Sask. leader first to join election race for Assembly of First Nations chief

A Saskatchewan man is the first person to enter the election race to become the next chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Flanked by more than a dozen chiefs and other supporters, Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations vice-chief David Pratt made his campaign announcement Wednesday morning at Wanuskewin Heritage Park, which is located just outside Saskatoon.

The AFN is the largest Indigenous advocacy organization in Canada, representing more than 600 First Nations communities across the country. The election is set for December 2023. It was triggered by the recent ousting of former chief RoseAnne Archibald.

Pratt said that if he is elected to lead the AFN, he would focus on issues such as child welfare, missing and murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and natural resource development. 

"We want to be full partners at the table and any type of resource development as we're moving forward, so that our chiefs and our member nations have a share in the prosperity and all of the development of the resources of this land," he said.

First Nations have been pressing for greater involvement in traditional resource sectors such as oil and potash, but also in the new push for "critical minerals" such as lithium and helium.

Pratt blasted the Saskatchewan First Act and other provinces' attempts to develop resources without First Nations involvement.

He hopes the government and industry will sit with First Nations as equal partners, but if not, they are prepared to take any action necessary. That includes blockades or legal action if that's what community leaders want, he said.

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Pratt says he plans to travel the country hearing from chiefs. He wants their input on ways to improve the AFN.

"Where can we do better as an organization? What could we improve? And how can we increase their voices around the table in the direction of the organization?" he said.

The last Saskatchewan person to lead the AFN was Perry Bellegarde, who served from 2014 to 2021.