The Assembly of First Nations removed National Leader RoseAn Archibald, a day after she issued a public statement criticizing the organization and just as it was under investigation, including numerous complaints against it.
A statement issued by AFN on Friday night said the executive committee and the national board of directors had voted to suspend Archibald immediately.
The FSA cites a specific public statement made by the national leader on Thursday as the reason for his decision.
That day, Archibald posted a statement on Twitter that despite the AFN campaign for “truth, transparency and accountability”, there has been “extreme resistance to this positive change” for nearly a year.
Her statement included a number of other allegations against the organization, as well as calls for a forensic audit and independent investigation into AFN’s behavior over the past eight years. Archibald filed additional charges against AFN on Friday.
AFN says Archibald’s comments “violated her duties”, including the oath of office, the code of conduct and the whistleblower policy.
“It is unfortunate that we had to take these difficult steps, but we had no choice,” AFN regional leader and spokesman Paul Prosper said in a statement.
“The national chief has committed serious breaches of his obligations to the AFN through unjustified and unjustified public attacks on the integrity of our organization and our employees, which will only undermine the good work we do as we continue to serve our communities of first nations. . “
Earlier Friday, AFN announced that an outside investigator would review a series of complaints against Archibald last month.
AFN said it had investigated the issue in line with its domestic human resources policy “and found the findings to support further investigation”.
The organization now says it has stopped paying Archibald pending the outcome of this investigation, which includes four complaints.
She also cannot discuss the ongoing investigation in public or attend the AFN’s annual general meeting and the chief’s meeting in early July, the organization said.
AFN does not disclose the exact nature of the complaints.
In response to her paid leave, Archibald said she was excluded from her email without notice, calling it a signal of “the beginning of a seemingly organized coup by regional chiefs.”
“While regional leaders have the power to remove me from the board and chair the board, they do not have the power to remove me as AFN’s national leader, nor can they determine whether or not I can attend next year’s AFN annual general meeting in Vancouver. “She wrote.
“As national chief, I will continue to push for a forensic audit and a full impartial AFN investigation, and I will continue to release accurate information in the coming days. I remain unperturbed in my conviction that the AFN desperately needs a forensic audit and an independent investigation. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. “
Archibald has criticized AFN in the past, promising to make the organization more inclusive and transparent.
“I have the ability to create a space that is respectful and kind to other leaders and at the same time accountable to them. I have two spaces within me, “she told a news conference in July 2021.
“I know that with this heart-focused approach, together with any government, we can move the benchmark, we can create quantum leaps for change, and that is my plan.”
At the time, Archibald was also considering some aspects of an internal investigation that AFN had launched against her for alleged harassment.
She said she had never been interviewed about the investigation, but said it included her concerns about alleged harassment and harassment of women, LGBTQ2S + people in the organization.
Archibald became the first woman to head AFN in July 2021, having previously been regional head of Ontario, the first woman to be elected to the role.
In 1990, at the age of 23, she was the first woman and youngest leader elected to her native Taikwa Tagamu community in northeastern Ontario. Archibald also became the first woman and youngest deputy chief of the Nishnaube Aski nation in Ontario.
With files from The Canadian Press
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