APTN National News
TORONTO–Like other candidates, former Treaty 3 grand chief and lawyer Diane Kelly believes the Assembly of First Nations is at a crossroad.
“We have to take action now. Our future depends on it. When it comes to treaties, our treaties as we all know are a description of our inherent rights and a description of our inherent jurisdiction,” she said.
Kelly relied on stories about her traditional upbringing and anecdotes from her time as grand chief to get her points across. She recalled an Elder speaking about the intent of the treaties.
“And as he was speaking, he bent down and picked up a handful of soil. There was some stones in there, some twigs and some grass. And as he was explaining he held it here, and then he opened his fingers up and some of the soil fell through but the twigs, the grass, the rocks, were still in his hand. This is all we agreed to share. But this belongs to us,” she said.
Kelly is one of eight candidates vying for the position of national chief of the AFN. She was speaking during the candidate’s forum during the AFN gathering in Toronto where chiefs will vote for national chief on Wednesday.
Kelly said all treaties in Canada, regardless of the region, should be a priority for the AFN. But she said the time for researching those treaties is long past.
“The next step is to take legal action. There are times when we have to take legal action. We have to draw that line in the sand and stand up and take action,” she said.
If elected, Kelly said she would immediately work on four issues; resource revenue sharing, strengthening treaty rights, health benefits for the most vulnerable and making the AFN more accessible to all First Nation citizens.
And she had a very specific timeline for those actions: 150 days.
“The reason I have picked 150 days is that will bring us back to the December (AFN) assembly where we can deliberate and decide on how to move forward,” she said.
