The race for the next Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is on, with the candidates now revealed, each vying for the leadership of 63 First Nations across the province.
The byelection will fill the leadership void left by Cathy Merrick, who made history as the first woman to lead the Assembly in its 35-year history before suddenly dying last September.
Four candidates are currently running, including Long Plain First Nation Chief Kyra Wilson, who worked with Merrick on critical issues such as the search for murdered Indigenous women at the Prairie Green landfill.
“We need to start having the discussions about treaties and our inherent rights as First Nations people and we need to make sure all levels of government are honoring those treaties,” said Kyra Wilson, who is running for AMC Grand Chief.
“The whole experience and the journey that brought me here today I feel ready and motivated to be able to do this work.”
Candidate Glenn Hudson, former chief of Peguis First Nation, says he brings a wealth of experience in treaty land entitlement, education, and energy development, with 14 years of experience as a Chief.
His campaign focuses on land and treaty rights, as well as energy initiatives like natural gas and hydro development.
“I’m probably the only one who ran for Grand Chief thinking back at the history, that has 14 years experience as a chief,” said Hudson.
“What I accomplished as a chief in our communities, not many leadership AHS done those things, including our land claims, treaty land entitlements, legal surrender and obviously our child and family services C92 act.”
The election comes at a time when Indigenous health care is top of mind in the province, after AMC recently voiced concerns about systemic discrimination within the health care system.
“I’ve stepped up and created clinics and pharmacies for our Peguis community where we have three in various centres in Manitoba,” said Hudson.
Wilson adds, “All of these discussions go back to treaty rights and so when you look at healthcare that was part of our treaties, we need to make sure we are having these conversations together because I do want to have a collaborative approach”
Sapotaweyak Cree Nation band councillor Bava Dhillon and Former York Factory First Nation Chief Leroy Constant will also be running, however, they did respond to our request for an interview. Voting will take place on January 29th.
