Candidate Cindy Woodhouse speaks during the All Candidates Forum on the first day of the annual Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly (SCA) in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
OTTAWA – The Assembly of First Nations is headed into 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 months after former national chief RoseAnne Archibald was ousted over the findings of an investigation into complaints from five staff members about her conduct.
The candidates made their final plea to the assembly Tuesday in an all-candidates forum where they outlined why they were best suited to lead the organization, which represents some 600 chiefs across the country.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2023.
