The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations has been re-elected to a second term.
Perry Bellegarde easily beat out four other challengers for the top job at the AFN on Wednesday.
In a recent interview with Acadia News, Bellegarde outlined some of his main issues he wants to tackle.
He says one priority is moving beyond the Indian Act, helping educate and getting the capacity at the reserve level for First Nations to see that they can move on without it.
Bellegarde notes it’s 2018 and they still have the Federal government Indian Act that has been place since 1876.
He also wants to keep moving on the current “fiscal table”.
Bellegarde says their trying to have a new relationship with the Crown, based on land and resource wealth and based on total population both on and off reserve.
He is hoping to secure a fiscal relationship that keeps up with inflation.
Bellegarde won on the second ballot, picking up 328 votes, compared to his closest rival, Sheila North from Manitoba, who earned 125.
