Fontaine defeats Coon Come Phil Fontaine receives the applause of delegates after winning the Assembly of First Nations election for National Chief, in Edmonton on Wednesday. By JILL MAHONEY From Thursday, Jul. 17, 2003 Globe and Mail Edmonton — Phil Fontaine won his old job back yesterday as National Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, ending the confrontational era of Matthew Coon Come. Mr. Coon Come suffered a humiliating first-round defeat, winning only 18.5 per cent of the vote from aboriginal chiefs and dropping off the ballot of the three-way leadership race. The incumbent threw his support behind second-place finisher Roberta Jamieson, a lawyer and chief of Canada's most populous first nation, who finished with slightly less than 40 per cent on the second ballot, a 10-point gain on her first-round result. "Your choice today is very clear and it was for a different vision and a different direction than the one I offered," Ms. Jamieson said. Mr. Fontaine was the early front-runner, securing 51.6 per cent of votes in the first round. On the second ballot, he triumphed with slightly more than 60 per cent of the vote. The winner requires 60 per cent of support, but may be elected with less if a challenger concedes victory. The hard-fought race presented Canada's aboriginal chiefs with the choice of the defiant status quo under Mr. Coon Come, the diplomacy of recent years under Mr. Fontaine or the somewhere-in-between style of Ms. Jamieson. In accepting defeat, Mr. Coon Come countered criticism of his leadership, saying: "I believe we are a great organization; I don't believe we are irrelevant. I don't believe we are a protest group," he said. At a press conference later, Mr. Coon Come said he deserved the result, a remark he wouldn't explain. "I'm actually happy. I think I gave it my best shot and I feel that the support that I got is what I deserved. I tried everything that I could and I respect the position of the chiefs," he said. Mr. Coon Come said he is looking forward to spending more time with his children and going hunting with his father. "I haven't been on my land for a long time, and I just saw that look in his face — I'm the only son — to me that meant a lot. And I looked in the faces of my children. I said I would spend more time with you now, that's priceless and I felt really good." Some chiefs attending the AFN gathering in Edmonton attributed Mr. Coon Come's early defeat to an anyone-but-Matthew groundswell. "I thought it would end up that way," said Bryan LaForme, chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation near Hagersville, Ont. "There was some unrest with talk of the chiefs across the country that they thought that maybe a change would be better for us just simply because of his lack of leadership on a lot of the issues." Delegates — 566 chose the leader of the country's largest native organization — moved away from what many saw as Mr. Coon Come's record of marginalizing the AFN. Many had been critical of his provocative style, saying the AFN had become divided and lost its vision under his leadership. Mr. Coon Come's relations with the federal Liberals were especially hostile, which many natives saw as a roadblock to securing better treatment. Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault has dismissed the 24-year-old organization — whose funding was recently cut by half — as "structurally incapable of working with the government." Mr. Coon Come's candidacy was supported by Ovide Mercredi, whose term as national chief from 1991-1997 did the most to raise the AFN's profile. Yesterday, Mr. Mercredi said he was surprised by the result. "I think maybe sometimes we don't fully understand why things are the way they are so we have to accept faith as it comes, right? So maybe it's time for a native organization to be headed up by a woman." Mr. Fontaine was national grand chief between 1997 and 2000, when he was ousted by Mr. Coon Come. His leadership is seen to mark an era of relative calm in relations between the AFN and Ottawa, compared to Mr. Coon Come's confrontational style. He was recently chief commissioner with the Indian Claims Commission, campaigned on promises to rebuild the AFN's credibility and to make the organization more relevant. Earlier in the convention, he said the biggest challenge facing the AFN is addressing the deplorable social conditions facing many natives. This, he said, is more important than opposing the federal government's proposed legislation for first nations governance, which he said is "regressive" and many natives see as an attempt by Mr. Nault to undermine aboriginal rights. Ms. Jamieson's campaign was seen as enlivening the leadership race. Chief of the Six Nations reserve near Hamilton, Ont., the Mohawk leader delivered a well-received address Tuesday. Canada's first female aboriginal lawyer, she was Ontario's ombudsman for 10 years and was a member of the province's Indian claims commission. Ms. Jamieson mobilized opposition to the government's legislation on first nations governance. Earlier in the convention, she said her first priority if elected would be making sure that legislation is "dead, dead, dead." She listed her second goal as ensuring the AFN had a productive relationship with the next prime minister. Her supporters, who wore purple T-shirts that said "A New Kind of Leadership" on the front and "Taking Action for Nation-Building" on the back, were the most visible of the race. Back to the Wigwam ©2003-2008 KMA - Ktaqamkuk (Taga-ma-goog)Mi'kmaq Alliance   Hosted by Your Community, Online!