There was no follow up media from Bill Curry on the CAP (Congress of aboriginal Peoples elections, so for those who are wondering the winner was: It's Betty Ann Lavallée. Here's her official Bio. Kevin Daniels, was acting as inter-rim until the election has returned to his post as National Vice-Chief.
Find Betty Ann Lavallée's offical biography, below.
The new National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal People and the Chief of the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council for the past 13 years is Ms. Betty Ann Lavallée, CD.(RTD), a status off-reserve Mi’kmaq woman who has worked all her adult life in non-traditional roles. Ms. Lavallée had also completed a term as the Vice-Chief of the NBAPC prior to being elected Chief in August of 1997. Ms. Lavallée has an extensive background in administration, transportation, business, and leadership management and has been active on numerous Boards as a Director, both Provincially and Nationally, and Committees that have dealt with Aboriginal Issues such as Fisheries, Housing, Education, Employment and Training, Economic Development and Health.
Ms. Lavallée was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces for approximately 17 years, where she was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration and Commendation Formation Level and the Queen’s 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal. Ms. Lavallée grew up in the military community of Oromocto, New Brunswick. Joining first as a reservist with 1 RNBR, Fredericton, then transferred over to the Regular Forces in 1980, where she was posted to Base Transportation Company, CFB Gagetown, in August immediately following her recruit and basic training. Ms. Lavallée remained at CFB Gagetown until August of 1988 when she was posted to 2 SVC BN, Special Service Force at CFB Petawawa, Ontario. In 1993, she was transferred back to CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick where she remained with the Technical Services Branch, Transportation Company until her retirement in April of 1996 when she left to take on the job of Economic Development Officer for Wabanaki Enterprises Inc., an off-reserve Economic Development Corporation
Ms. Lavallée is the daughter of John(Jack) and Rhoda Bernard of Geary, New Brunswick. She is married to Battery Sergeant Major J. S. Michael Lavallée, CD2 who is currently serving at 67(Depot) BTY, The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery School at CFB Gagetown . They have a 32 year old son, Sgt. Trevor Lavallée, CD (RCR), 1 PL Training Co. Parachute Instructor, Canadian Advance Warfare Center, CFB Trenton. She is the proud grandmother of 3 year old, Kaden John William Lavallée and 2 year old, Ethan Michael Brian Lavallee.
Ms. Lavallée has a keen interest in Aboriginal Issues as well as Domestic and International politics. She is a stanch advocate for employment for women in non-traditional roles and very protective of inherent rights for the Off-Reserve Aboriginal People of Canada.
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CAP ByLaws state in Section 4.05 Election and term in Office. The Cheif and Vice-Chief shall be elected every four years at the Annual General Assembly to serve four years or until their successors are elected. The terms of office of these officers shall commence at the close of the Annual General Assembly of their election. The Cheif and Vice Cheif shall be elected to office by the vote of those entitled to vote at the Annual General Assembly by a majority of votes cast.
Now the question of who are "those entiled to vote" stated in Section 4.05 read Section 9.06.
Section 9.06 Those Entitled To Vote The voting body of the Congress at each General Assembly, whether at an Annual general Assembly or at a sepcial General Assembly, shall consist of the duly resistered voting deligates from each constituent member organization as well as the Chief, Vice Chief and Nation Youth Representative.
Concerns/Questions:
1. How many duly registered voting deligates according to Bylaw Section 9.06?
A: There were 155 registered voting deligates.
2. What is majority of 155?
A: 77.5 ( reality 78 because there is no such thing as 1/2 a person) plus 1 = 79 votes represent majority
3. Did the newly elected National Cheif win according to the Congress of Aborignal Peoples By Laws Section 4.05 with majority of 155?
Since I was there voing in the first and second round, I can say I know all 155 deligates were NOT present, many were missing (perhaps tired of waiting ??? lol)
4. Please keep in mind. Bylaws can not be ignored when when excuiting an election. I know we were TOLD how it was going to run, which in itself was illegal in nature according to the combination of CAP Bylaws Section 4.05 and 9.06, which CLEARLY state the Cheif and Vice Chief must have MAJORITY votes of the duly resistered voters (155 persons). I belive the new National Cheif won with MAJORITY votes of those present in the room, at the time NOT the majority of duly resistered (155), therefore, CAP held an illegal election.
P.s. The registered voting deligates were NEVER told exactly WHAT the numbers were.. we were just told "who". Very strange!
Hey, that's excellent gossip. Thanks for posting.
Since you were there, perhaps you can give us the scoop on who else ran, what the speeches were like and all that other good election gossip we love to hear.
What do you think of the new leader? I was rather impressed by her bio. She looks very capable.
I also heard a rumour - but have not been able to confirm it - that the AFN was supposed to send over a delegation, which never showed.
Any truth to that? I always thought the AFN and CAP were on the outs, but this is the second time rumours have flown about "meetings".
Another interesting rumour floating around is that delegates had planned a protest outside the federal interlocutor's office, but in the end it didn't happen.
Share your secrets. Just post them here. Promise I won't tell a soul. ;)
I believe the new National Chief to be capable.... I guess we shall see.
My problems is not with that she won, it's that no numbers were given. So the question lingers, did she really with with majority (79 votes) according to the CAP Bylaws? Seriously, I do not think so.
I have never seen an election in my entire life where the totals of the votes cast for each candidate were not released! Imagine the Government of Canada conducting their elections in this matter! LOL
I will post more later, I have to run.
Hi Again,
Yes, you are correct. As as as I know, someone was supposed to show up, but never did. If he or she did, they sat in silence.
There was a friendly walk to the Office. Those included 4 provinces (for sure) and Mr. Daniels. There could have been more provinces involved, I am not too sure about this.
All speeches were very well prepared, although I was not too impressed with the route Mrs. Lavalle took. To me her speech lacked substance. If there was a titled needed for her speech, I would give it the title " I am Accountable, I am telling on Patrick." This to me is ironic becasue Mrs. Lavallee WAS on the board and WAS or SHOULD have been aware of ALL management issues! As everyone knows it is the BOARD that runs CAP ....NOT the National Cheif or Vice-Chief! It is the National Chief/Vice Chief that takes ORDERS from the board... is it not?
So, perhaps the AFN was sitting in a dark corner spying o CAP? That sounds so likley that it HAS to be true.
As I recall Ms. Lavallee was not a huge fan of Patrick's (Of course I am not either). It doesn't surprise me that her speech would be an I-am-not Brazeau speech.
Really interesting stuff, especially the point you make about them not releasing the numbers. Very curious indeed.
Thanks for posting!
Seventy-nine individuals or less chose the new National Chief for the Congress of Aboriginal People....155 were eligible...That’s not a very big constituency.
In the doccument titled Congress Aboriginal Peoples Background Paper on Off-Reserve Aboriginal Housing Issues it states "We represent more than 309,000 off reserve households which constitutes the largest group of off-reserve Aboriginal householed in Canada."
WOW!
The new National Cheif won with LESS than 79 votes!!!
Humm....
I am going to play devil's advocate. CAP's claim is that they represent 309,000 off reserve households. Technically this is true. Technically they represent the interests of off-reserve...And in CAP's good years they interened on some important cases like the Corbiere decision, which allowed urban Indians to vote in band elections.
However we all know CAP's actual membership is pretty small. They are not saying they have 309,000 members.
Really they are in the same boat as NWAC. The Native Women's assocaition represents First Nations women, and to a lesser extent Metis women's interests. they also have a rather small membership.
And finally when you look at the AFN they have about 633 voting chiefs. Elections for the National chief as well as voting on resolutions etc is limited to a small number of actual members.
None of the organizations have direct democracy, it's all indirect, witht eh grassroots folk understanding little of the day to day operations of the National groups.
I think you make a good point about CAP anon. But none of the groups are really direct democracies or governments.
Ireceived a from wideye (who is too tied up to blog today) that said, in repsonse to my last comment:
"if this is your argument then you must include the Canadian system = we do not vote for the PM - we vote for our riding. In the communities members vote for the Chief, who votes for National Chief"
Which is a very good point and yes, I would include the PM/Canadian system in this critique. I supposed I missed mentioning them because I do not vote in Canadian elections. Two reasons for this: 1)Unlike my chief who listens to me, Canadian politicians do precious little for my people and offer no good reason that would motivate me to vote. 2) until my nation's land claim is resolved and an appropriate treaty signed that would define my relationship with Canada I consider Canadian governments foreign governments who are occupying my land. Occupying governments naturally have an interest in maintaining the status quo, which is why they do such a bad job on point 1).
Ms.Lavallee may have won by 79 votes, but this represented the majority of the voting delegates as appointed by the member Provincial Organizations. AFN could not send a delegation to this Annual Forum as representatives of the On-Reserve they have no right to participate, they are not members. They are Chiefs of all reserves who come together and make decisions, based on their own thoughts or wants, as I can tell you my reserve Cheif has NEVER consulted with me in efforts to understand my position or opinion on any issue whatsoever. What I can say though, as a member of an off reserve representative organization my chief is a phone call away, as well as their door always open. My off reserve Chief does work for us members and does know what it's members want and so do the delegates who are chosen to represent them on a National level.
Ms.Lavallee's speech in no way made reference to Mr.Brazeau, if you were there then you know know this. As well she did not make promises she cannot keep as did other running candidates, which were unrealistic and unattainable given the short time frane they have to work in. What Ms.Lavallee did do, however is state her strengths, what she will bring to the National level and why she feels ready to take on this challenge, which was obviously acceptable to many, as they chose to elect her to complete this term of office.
In Ms.LAvallee's Interim Vice Chief's report, where she did make reference to Mr.Brazeau, or events which occured under his short term of office, she is responsible to the membership to provide transparent and accurate information. Truth in facts, not insinuations or accusations. Some might feel she is telling on others, I appreciate honesty, no matter how pretty the picture.
Nothing is in secret, I don't know how aware of election process people are, but any candidate who is running for office has the right to appoint a scrutineer to oversee the process and declare any errors or missteps. These appointed individuals are also present for the counting of the ballots. So before you cast doubt about the validity of this process, wouldn't it be expected that if something was in fact not done properly, including the required number of ballots to win, a scrutineer for the other candidates would have quickly pointed this out?
Ahhhhh Sweetie (Anonymous)....79 votes...she bloody well better have an open door for all 79 of you. When only 79 people vote then you’re really more like a club than a national organization. And if a Chief lives off reserve (and some must because there is a shortage of housing) then he or she is one of the 309,000 household you mention. Further, any organization can send a delegate to a CAP assembly – unless you truly are a club and only the 79 members are allowed? In which case you DON’T represent the interests of 309,000 households just the interests of you members only club. Of course only your very select club members can vote - the same as a Canadian electoral system (and shame on Ward for not voting – but that’s me because I believe in my voice and insist it be heard (just ask Ward – she’ll tell you.)) because to vote in the Canadian system you must be 18 and a Canadian citizen and registered with Elections Canada.
But I am interested Anonymous you say you have an urban Chief? (god help us all) – Is your urban chief one of these “aboriginals” I keep hearing about. Because then I would understand why your constituency is so small – because citizens of a First Nation whether on or off can trace their heritage to a Nation and are not aboriginals – they are Mohawk, Ojibway, Cree, Blackfoot etc...And Inuit or Métis well they too have never lived on reserves. So did CAP include Métis, Inuit as well as the Dené households in the NWT and the Yukon in their 309,000 households (ummm yeah...) because the First Nation people living in those territories have also NEVER lived on a reserve and are in fact indigenous peoples of Canada and are also well represented by their Nation. But when I last checked “aboriginals” as a people do not exist except as a legal term to describe the three indigenous groups in Canada.
But hey...good luck with your club for aboriginals....
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