AFN misses deadline as former national chief RoseAnne Archibalds $5M lawsuit moves into discovery

Eighteen months after launching a lawsuit against the AFN Executive Committee, RoseAnne Archibald took to Facebook Dec. 2, to announce the case had reached a new phase. “Today marks an important milestone: the legal case against the Assembly of First Nations has officially entered the discovery stage,” the ousted former national chief said. “For 18 months, settlement discussions were stalled and stonewalled. With no meaningful progress, the matter is now proceeding through the courts, where truth, evidence, and accountability can finally be examined in full.” In July 2023, Archibald was removed as national chief at a special meeting before she could finish what was her first term as the first woman to hold the top job at the AFN. She was also blocked from participating in the AFN’s Annual General Assembly that same year before ultimately being removed from the post. In an interview with APTN News, Archibald’s lawyer said she remains committed to getting to the truth of her removal as well as transparency at the AFN. “They’re in default of the time period to deliver a statement of defense,” David Shiller said. “I have asked them when they are going to deliver…And, you know, I’m hoping I’m not going to have to strategically note them in default, which is to take default proceedings against them, in light of their defaults.” A statement of defense is the defendant’s formal, written response to the plaintiffs statement of claim, outlining which allegations they admit, deny, or don’t know about, presenting their version of events, and raising legal defenses or counterclaims, all to avoid a default judgment and define the issues for trial. It is usually required within 20 to 30 days of the court filing. Shiller said they have been working for several months on a settlement with the AFN, but there have been many delays due to a lack of response. “We agreed to sort of the conciliatory approach that was proposed by the AFN. Like, ‘hey look through it. Send us some documents and, you know, and make a proposal for resolution.’ We did that, and, unfortunately, we never got a response. So, that leaves Roseanne with not many options but to proceed with this. And that’s what she’s going to do.” Shiller has filed a discovery plan with the Ontario Superior Court asking for all correspondence between Archibald or any employee from her office to the defendants. It also asks for all correspondence from the individual defendants regarding Archibald, including emails, texts, and messages sent on messenger apps. Archibald launched the lawsuit June 14, 2022, naming the regional chiefs at the time. Those regional chiefs were Cindy Woodhouse (Nepinak), Paul Prosper, Ghislain Picard, Glen Hare, Joanne Bernard, Kluane Adamek, Terry Teegee, Bobby Cameron, Darlene Bernard, Junior Gould and Gerald Antoine. She also named the AFN as a whole, as well as the National Indian Brotherhood and the Executive Committee comprised of the regional chiefs. Archibald is seeking damages of $5 million for “breach of contract and oppression; indemnity for the legal fees incurred by the plaintiff from July, 2021 through June, 2022 in connection with the campaign to sideline her and oust her from the Assembly of First Nations,” according to the statement of claim.  She is also seeking the legal fees she incurred in order to respond to her “unlawful suspension of her employment and the unlawful prohibition imposed on her by the Executive Committee of the Assembly of First Nations in connection with the 2022 Annual General Assembly and the Chiefs and Assembly meetings,” according to the statement of claim, Archibald had served as the regional chief for Ontario from 2018 until she ran for National Chief and won in 2021. She butted heads with then National Chief Perry Bellegarde over “serious issues regarding the way the AFN and the Executive Committee were run,” according to her statement of claim. “When she raised these issues…Bellegarde embarked on a campaign to retaliate against her for challenging the authoritarian, gender discriminatory, misogynistic, patriarchal, manipulative and non-democratic manner in which he ran the AFN,” the claim said.  The claim also said Archibald’s goal of revitalizing and to “politically restructure the AFN “was perceived as a threat by the members of the Executive Committee and the Secretariat who considered that they ran the AFN and were the ultimate authority over it despite that the AFN Charter did not grant them such wide powers.” Shiller said “there’s an issue with AFN governance more generally, which is that the AFN constitution, provides for something called the Confederacy of Nations, which is a body that’s supposed to govern the AFN between annual meetings. And it’s comprised of not only the regional chiefs, which is like the executive committee, but also, more chiefs for each region depending on their population.” “But that body has been practically defunct for many, many years. And as a result, it’s just the regional chiefs and the national chief really (who) have run the day to day operation of the AFN and…really on a day to day basis, have been accountable to nobody,” Shiller said. “They are supposed to be accountable to the confederacy of nations who are ultimately responsible to the assembly of First Nations, the (annual general assembly) meeting, every year. And that’s where the power is supposed to be. The power is supposed to be decentralized. But because the Confederacy of Nations has been defunct, the governance structure of ASN has been flipped on its head.” “Instead of power being decentralized in the chiefs across Canada, the power is centralized in the regional chiefs. And that is what Rosanne was looking to challenge, and that was what the executive committee perceived as a threat to their power. And we say which led to the steps taken to silence, sideline and, exclude her and ultimately expel her,” Shiller said.  APTN News has reached out to the defendants’ lawyer for comment, but has not heard back.  Archibald said in her Facebook post the AFN has a responsibility for transparency. “I have nothing to hide. I have always stood in the light, and I remain committed to offering truth, transparency, and accountability throughout this process.” Tags: bobby cameron, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, civil case, Darlene Bernard, former AFN National Chief, Ghislain Picard, Glen Hare, Joanne Bernard, Junior Gould and Gerald Antoine, Kluane Adamek, Lawsuit, legal fees, Ontario Superior Court, ousted, Paul Prosper, Perry Bellegarde, regional chiefs, RoseAnne Archibald, statement of claim, statement of defense, Terry Teegee Continue Reading