SCO grand chief given a reprieve from a vote that could have ousted him

The grand chief of an organization that represents 33 Anishinaabe and Dakota Nations in southern Manitoba will carry on in his leadership role until at least June 2027. This past summer, a former ally of Jerry Daniels brought forward a motion seeking a vote to remove him as leader of the Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO). “Chiefs have raised numerous concerns regarding governance, leadership, accountability, transparency, organization decision-making and the confidence of member Nations in the current leadership of the Organization,” said a resolution at the time tabled by Lake Manitoba Chief Cornell McLean. A response, at the time, attributed to the SCO Chiefs Executive Committee, cited the financial cost of a summit, among other reasons, and called for the motion to be brought forward at an ordinary summit That meeting, SCO’s Chiefs-in-Summit gathering, got underway on Wednesday in Brokenhead Ojibway Nation, where a vote on Daniels’ leadership was expected. According to an SCO spokesperson, “the Chiefs withdrew the proposed non-confidence motion at today’s SCO Chiefs-in-Summit, and no vote was held.” McLean told APTN News that “it wasn’t a win for him, it’s more like a reprieve. We decided to wait until his term is over in June.” Daniels has previously faced two non-confidence votes. Those came shortly after a fight involving the grand chief outside of a bar in Ottawa in December 2024, on the eve of an Assembly of First Nations gathering. The SCO Chiefs-in-Summit is closed to the media. Dennis WardHost-Producer | WinnipegDennis is Métis from southern Manitoba. After spending a decade working in TV in Alberta and Ontario, Dennis returned to Manitoba to join APTN. In 2016, he won a Canadian Association of Journalists award for his story A Soldier Scorned for APTN Investigates. In 2017, he became a host/producer for APTN National News and Face to Face. Continue Reading