Recently deposed Assembly of First Nations national chief RoseAnne Archibald is continuing to defend herself on social media and is encouraging her supporters to push to have her reinstated.
“These ten regional chiefs ganged up on me and it was a form of lateral violence, it was inhumane and it was a grave injustice,” she said in an online video posted to her Facebook page on Thursday night.
At a special virtual meeting on June 28, chiefs voted to remove Archibald from her position. Only about a third of those eligible to vote participated.
The motion to oust the national chief was led by the AFN executive and based on the results of an external human resources investigation which alleges Archibald harassed staffers.
However, she maintains the real reason behind her firing has to do with calls for greater accountability within the organization including a forensic audit.
At last summer’s assembly in Vancouver, chiefs passed a resolution calling for such an audit but the AFN says it is still trying find the finances to move forward on the request.
Similar to a video she posted on Sunday night, the former national chief calls on chiefs to take part in the annual general assembly in Halifax, Nova Scotia next week and to insist on her reinstatement and the completion of a forensic audit.
Archibald further tells viewers she has not yet decided whether she will attend the assembly in person or not.
“At this point, I haven’t made a final decision,” she said. “I’m leaving it open but I’m waiting – tonight we’re sending a memo to the chiefs across Turtle Island and I want to see what the feedback will be from them on whether I need to go to Halifax and be there in person.”
The assembly is also being held in a virtual format.
There are currently 45 resolutions on the agenda but there will likely be more once the three-day meeting gets underway on Tuesday.
There are resolutions in a number of areas including child welfare, health, justice and nuclear energy.
One resolution calls on the AFN to challenge the federal government’s recently introduced legislation on Métis self-government, another for an independent inquiry into forced apprehensions of First Nations children and still another for a royal commission on First Nations deaths in police custody.
The AFN represents roughly 634 First Nations across Canada and took in $34.3 million from several federal departments.
