Assembly of First Nations new National Chief is Cindy Woodhouse
By Lisa Iesse Writer OTTAWA-Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse has emerged as the next leader of the Assembly of First Nations after six rounds of voting. Neither of the two final candidates reached the 60 per cent threshold needed to win, nearly pushing the AFN into a seventh round of voting Thursday (Dec. 7) morning. But Pratt conceded to Woodhouse before another round of voting was put to the assembly. After the sixth ballot Woodhouse grabbed 234 votes or 50.8 percent of the vote. Close at her heels was David Pratt with 181 votes or 39.3 percent of the votes cast. Woodhouse remained in the lead for all six rounds. Reginald Bellerose and Craig Makinaw, were dropped after the first ballot. Dean Sayers was dropped after the second ballot. Sheila...
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Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse to be named Assembly of First Nations National Chief after competitor concedes
OTTAWA-Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse will be the third woman to lead the Assembly of First Nations after her closest competitor conceded today. Neither of the two final candidates reached the 60 per cent threshold needed to win, nearly pushing the AFN into a seventh round of voting Thursday (Dec. 7) morning when David Pratt conceded to Woodhouse before another round of voting was put to the assembly. After the sixth ballot Woodhouse grabbed 234 votes or 50.8 percent of the vote. Close at her heels was David Pratt with 181 votes or 39.3 percent of the votes cast. Woodhouse remained in the lead for all six rounds. Reginald Bellerose and Craig Makinaw, were dropped after the first ballot. Dean Sayers was dropped after the second ballot. Sheila North was...
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Assembly of First Nations assembly continues without electing new national chief
By Alessia Passafiume THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- The Assembly of First Nations’ special chiefs assembly continues in Ottawa Thursday without a new national chief. First Nations leaders were growing impatient late Wednesday as voting for the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations went long into the night, with neither front-runner reaching the 60 per cent victory threshold. After six separate rounds of voting, AFN regional chief Cindy Woodhouse had collected 50.8 per cent of the registered vote, leading her closest challenger: David Pratt, vice-chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations. Pratt did not concede as expected after the fourth ballot, leading to a tense conversation with Woodhouse on the floor of the convention centre in downtown Ottawa and another round of voting. He did not concede...
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AFN headed to fifth round of voting
By Lisa Iesse, Writer OTTAWA-Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse is still in the lead coming out of the fourth round of voting to become the next leader of the Assembly of First Nations. After the fourth ballot Woodhouse grabbed 237 votes or 51.4 percent of the vote. Close at her heels is David Pratt with 185 votes or 40.1 percent of the votes cast. Neither of the two final candidates reached the 60 per cent threshold needed to win pushing the AFN into a fifth round of voting. Reginald Bellerose and Craig Makinaw, were dropped after the first ballot. Dean Sayers was dropped after the second ballot. Dropped from the third ballot was Sheila North. Woodhouse could become the second First Nations woman to become the National Chief of the...
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Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse still in lead as Assembly of First Nations heads to fourth round
By Lisa Iesse, Writer OTTAWA-Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse is still in the lead coming out of the third round of voting to become the next leader of the Assembly of First Nations. After the third ballot Woodhouse grabbed 221 votes or 47.9 percent of the vote. Close at her heels is David Pratt with 142 votes or 30.8 percent of the votes cast. None of the candidates reached the 60 per cent threshold needed to win pushing the AFN into a third round of voting. Dropped from the ballots was Sheila North. Reginald Bellerose and Craig Makinaw, were dropped after the first ballot. Dean Sayers was dropped after the second ballot. Woodhouse could become the second First Nations woman to become the National Chief of the Assembly of First...
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Assembly of First Nations in third round of voting for a National Chief
By Lisa Iesse, Writer OTTAWA-Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse is still in the lead coming out of the second round of voting to become the next leader of the Assembly of First Nations. After the second ballot Woodhouse grabbed 190 votes or 41. 2 percent of the vote. Close at her heels is David Pratt with 139 votes or 30. 2 percent of the votes cast. None of the candidates reached the 60 per cent threshold needed to win pushing the AFN into a third round of voting. Dropped from the ballots was Dean Sayers. Reginald Bellerose and Craig Makinaw, were dropped after the first ballot. Woodhouse could become the second First Nations woman to become the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) . Cindy Woodhouse, the...
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Canada’s sport minister supports Haudenosaunee bid to play lacrosse at 2028 Olympics
Canada’s sport minister says she hopes to see the Haudenosaunee Nationals compete in lacrosse under their own flag at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Carla Qualtrough issued the statement hours after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a similar stance. Biden formally requested the International Olympic Committee allow the Haudenosaunee Nationals to compete as its own team at the Los Angeles Games as the White House Tribal Nations Summit. That would require the IOC to make an exception to a rule that permits teams playing only as part of an official national Olympic committee to compete in the Olympics. The Haudenosaunee are a collection of six nations whose territory covers parts of Ontario, Quebec, and upstate New York. Formerly known as the Iroquois Nationals, they have competed as their own team...
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No first ballot winner in AFN national chief election
OTTAWA- A First Nations woman is in the lead to become the next National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) after the first round of voting . Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse has taken the lead with 163 votes or 35% of the vote. The AFN is now in a second round of voting to choose a new national chief. The results of the first ballot, announced shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET, did not put any of the six candidates over the 60 per cent threshold to win. Cindy Woodhouse, the current regional chief for Manitoba, is leading her closest challenger, Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations vice-chief David Pratt. The two lowest-ranking candidates, Reginald Bellerose and Craig Makinaw, have been dropped from the second ballot. The election comes...
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Who’s it gonna be? AFN to elect new national leader
AFN to get new National Chief today after removal of first female National Chief Before the end of the day today there will be a new leader of the Assembly of First Nations. Indigenous leaders from coast to coast are meeting in Ottawa this week for an AFN Special Assembly and election of a new National Chief. The assembly is taking place from Dec., 5-7, 2023, at the Shaw Centre The organization began as the National Indian Brotherhood in 1968 just as the Pierre Trudeau government was about to release its infamous White Paper, that would assimilate First Nations into mainstream society. It later grew into the AFN in 1982 . It continued to push Pierre Trudeau’s Liberals, even after the AFN helped enshrine Aboriginal rights in Canada’s Constitution. Voting...
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Gate going up on “Glebe lands” to keep homeless camps out
By Lynda Powless Editor Six Nations Public Works has erected gates and cement barriers blocking any entrance to the Glebe Lands as part of Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) attempts to evict squatters from the lands and ensure more do not take up residence. Late last week bulldozers, trucks and other heavy equipment were on site removing the trailers and campers and tents that became home to homeless people. Only two of the dozens of homeless people identified as Six Nations people. Councillor Greg Frazer gave SNEC an update on the initiative’s progress at the General Council meeting on November 28 and said it’s going well. Director of Public Works Mike Montour, Frazer and Six Nations Police visited to assess the entrances on November 24 and 26 to block them off....
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Ontario Premier Ford step back from developing Greenbelt a win for the Haldimand Tract
It’s a win for the Haldimand Tract. At least that’s what Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) Consulation and Accommodation Process Team (CAP) are celebrating after the Ford government walked back its plans to build on the Greenbelt and expand urban areas. In its monthly report for October and November the CAP Team told SNEC’s Political Liaison Committee meeting (November 27). Peter Graham, Consultation Supervisor said meetings and advocacy work for the Greenbelt and urban expansion have concluded with Ontario taking steps to reverse its decisions to remove land from the Greenbelt and force municipalities like Hamilton and Waterloo to expand their urban areas. The move came in October after Ford’s decisions and motives for the Greenbelt were investigated by the province’s integrity commissioner, the OPP (who handed off the investigation...
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Six Nations not impressed with Indigenous Services Canada
Six Nations councillors and staff say a Joint Gathering with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) felt “pointless,” repetitive and concerns seemed to “fall on deaf ears.” Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) sent a delegation to the Joint Gathering with ISC on November 15 and 16 and gave verbal reports at the Political Liaison Committee meeting on November 27. Clair Pietron, Strategic Advisor and Systems Analyst said the updates presented were similar to last year’s and this year there were few ministers who spoke, or were present at the gathering leaving ISC employees to field questions they couldn’t answer. “They aren’t equipped [to answer] hard questions on the floor and say things like ‘I’ll take this back to my bosses.’ A lot of that is what kind of happened in presentations from...
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Six Nations Elected Council reviewing tender policy
Six Nations will review its tender policy in an attempt to give community members a leg up in the process. Councillor Helen Miller brought a complaint regarding the tender acceptance process from a community member at the Six Nations Elected Council’s (SNEC) l meeting on November 28. Miller said the member’s tender wasn’t selected for the snow removal contract put out earlier this month, and that person discovered an outside company’s bid was awarded the contract. “I thought this new council was going to work to get our people back in positions. Here you are hiring a non-native company,” she said. “If it’s true I am very concerned. We have several people in our community who do plowing.” Nathan Wright, CEO, confirmed it was true SNEC accepted a bid from...
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Six Nations Elected Councillors discuss travels and meetings
Some Six Nations council members are off to Ottawa this week attending the Assembly of First Nations meeting. The meet runs to Wednesday culminating in the election fo a new national chief. COO Six Nations Elected Councillor Audrey Powless-Bomberry has concerns about the Chiefs of Ontario (COO), but is enjoying the addition of culture to the meeting. She gave a verbal report at the Six Nations Elected Council General Council meeting on November 28. She attended the Fall Chief’s Assembly in Toronto on November 21 to 23 and said there weren’t enough chief’s to carry all of the member nation’s flags, which was disappointing. Community members were asked to carry flags. The COO have had an entrance of flages for more than two decades. She attended a committee for education...
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Six Nations to co-own battery storage system
By Lisa Iesse Writer Six Nations will co-own a new battery storage system if the community’s latest bid gets a green light from the province. Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corporation (SNGRDC) is teaming up with the Mississaugas of the Credit Business Corporation (MCBC), along with NRStor Inc and Aecon for the new project. The project partners hope to build a Battery Energy Storage System (“BESS”) on a 20-acre lot near Simcoe within five years. The structure would take up about 8 acres of space, and would house up to 106 MW, supplying 424 megawatt hours to the electric grid. If SNGRDC’s latest battery project bid is approved by the province’s Electricity System Operator (IESO), SNGRDC will hold a 25 percent ownership. MCBC will hold another 25 per...
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Local businesses hit by thieves in smash and grabs
Three local Six Nations business have been hit by robbers in the past week. The latest was a cannabis shop call the “Tribe” that sells cannabis and other items. The Chiefswood Road shop was hit Dec., 3 at 6:45 a.m. Two males broke into the shop through a door and stole an inside ATM machine from the store. They were driving a GMC SUV. The theft comes just six days after a local restaurant, Maracle’ Man’s, was hit. The restaurant was hit last Tuesday Nov., 28th at 4:21 a.m. Video shows two men getting out and used a crowbar to smash through the back door entering the shop and stealing the safe before leaving in a tan coloured pick up truck The driver never left the vehicle. There were two...
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Canada treading on First nations rights….again?
It looks like any love affair between the Liberal party and First Nations is quickly coming under fire. A parliament committee began studying Bill C-53, the Métis self government bill, last week and the new Crown-Indigenous Relations minister found himself getting off to a rocky start. The Liberal minister came out defending a bill that is aimed at formalizing Métis self-governance agreements. Agreements that have come under fire by Indigenous leaders who question the Bill and its affects upon Indigenous rights, in particular in Ontario. But no one is surprised, the newly appointed Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree, has continued to defended the government position saying the Liberal government is righting the wrongs of the past. He argues Métis have been fighting for their rights for centuries. And he told...
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Weekly Cartoon
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Six Nations Police charge man who barricaded self in house
Six Nations Police said no one was injuried after a man barricaded himself inside a Sixth Line Road home and shot at police last Thursday, Dec., 1. Six Nations Police Const. Cody Johnson said the incident began when officers responded to a weapons call on Sixth Line between Chiefswood Road and Tuscarora Road in Ohsweken around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Ontario Provincial Police were called in as back-up. Constable Johnson said a man had barricaded himself in a home and began shooting at police early Friday morning. He said he shot multiple times during the standoff with police. A hold and secure for the immediate neighbourhood was put in place and residents were urged not to travel to the area. “Throughout the early morning police were under fire from the individual...
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Six Nations granted a second Junior B lacrosse franchise
By Sam Laskaris Writer Six Nations youth will now have yet another opportunity to showcase their lacrosse skills locally in a junior league. That’s because the Six Nations Fire, a new Junior B squad, has been launched and is gearing up for its 2024 campaign. The Fire will be the only Canadian franchise in the First Nations Junior B Lacrosse League. Clubs from across New York also participate in the league. The Fire will play all of its home contests at Six Nations’ Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA). “It kind of fell into our lap,” said Roger Vyse, who will serve as the head coach for the Fire. “Our community members jumped all over it.” Vyse had served as a co-coach for a portion of the 2023 campaign with the Six...
