APTN National News
OTTAWA—A senior Assembly of First Nations chief has written a letter urging Liberal leader Justin Trudeau to ask one of his candidates to step down from her role as regional chief in British Columbia.
The letter from Bill Erasmus, the regional AFN chief for the Northwest Territories, asks Trudeau to pressure Jody Wilson-Raybould into stepping down from her role as AFN regional chief for B.C. so she can focus on her campaign.
“This is of great concern to us in the north because she cannot have ‘two masters.’ If she is a Liberal candidate she cannot be a regional chief at the same time,” wrote Erasmus in the Feb. 6 letter. “If she is a Liberal candidate she cannot be a regional chief at the same time. Therefore we request that you approach her and ask for her resignation as the regional chief of British Columbia so she can be a full-time candidate in your party.”
Erasmus wrote in the letter he met with Trudeau on Jan. 11 in Yellowknife.
“Our brief meeting did not allow me to bring up the issue of (Wilson-Raybould),” wrote Erasmus, who is also national chief for the Dene Nation.
Wilson-Raybould has the full support of B.C. chiefs for the time being to keep her regional chief position while holding the Liberal candidacy for Vancouver Granville.
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