Leaders join exclusive club

Page 1

To a list that already includes Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, country music superstar Garth Brooks and former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev, you can now add Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Phil Fontaine and his current crop of vice-chiefs.

What could they all possibly have in common?

Well, each has received a white Smithbilt Stetson from the City of Calgary.

Fontaine and the other AFN executive members received theirs on Feb. 8. Marj Goodmanson, a volunteer with Tourism Calgary, made the presentation on behalf of Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier.

The white hat confers honorary citizenship in the southern Alberta city, said Goodmanson, and is presented to "every VIP who visits Calgary."

The presentation was made at a chiefs' reception on the evening of the first day of a two-day AFN executive meeting. Fontaine noted that it was the first executive meeting of the year.

He took the opportunity to announce that Edmonton lawyer J. Wilton Littlechild has been re-appointed as the AFN's official representative and advisor on international issues.

The national chief also said the executive members spent a lot of time discussing the speech from the throne that had been delivered by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson just a few days before. In the speech, the Prime Minister committed to a new approach to dealing with Aboriginal issue.

"We discussed the throne speech and came to the conclusion that it represents real opportunities for us," Fontaine said.

He later told the gathering that the AFN was "to a considerable extent responsible for those words spoken by the Governor General."

He said he and his officials met with newly appointed Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell on the day he was appointed, "just a couple of hours after he was sworn in."

Fontaine said the minister repeatedly used the phrase "collaborative approach" during that first meeting.

"We took him up on those words," Fontaine said. "And we undertook to influence the throne speech. In my humble opinion, I think we succeeded. I think we succeeded quite nicely."