Candidates for Assembly of First Nations National Chief

Circle of Trade Show Guide Supplement

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ROBERTA JAMIESON was raised on the Six Nations territory with her seven brothers and sisters. Her interest in politics was sparked while a student studying medicine at McGill University in the early 1970s. She joined the movement against the James Bay hydroelectric dam being built without the consent of the James Bay Cree, and in 1974 had the opportunity to debate a land claims issue with then-minister of Indian Affairs Jean Chretien.

That same year, Jamieson became executive assistant to George Manuel, president of the National Indian Brotherhood. Jamieson soon changed her studies from medicine to law and graduated in 1976 from the University of Western Ontario School of Law, the first woman from a First Nation in Canada to earn a LL.B.

From 1978 to 1982, Jamieson served with the Indian Commission of Ontario. During this period, she acted as speaker for the Canada-wide "All-Chiefs Conference" called by Noel Starblanket that began the transformation of the National Indian Brotherhood into the Assembly of First Nations.

In 1982, Jamieson became the first non-parliamentarian to be appointed an ex-officio member of a House of Commons committee, the Special Task Force on Indian Self-Government, which in 1983 produced The Penner Report.

She was also chair of the legal group advising the Assembly of First Nations during the First Ministers Conferences of the 1980s. From 1989 to 1999, Jamieson served the Legislative Assembly as Ombudsman for Ontario and became the founding president of the Canadian Ombudsman Association.

In 2001, Jamieson became the Chief of Six Nations of the Grand River, where she resides with husband Tom Hill. They have a daughter, Jessica.

PHIL FONTAINE calls the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba home. His early life was spent on the Fort Alexander reserve, where he attended a residential school run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He also attended the Assiniboia Residential School in Winnipeg and was the first Aboriginal leader to publicly expose the abuses that existed in the residential school system.

Fontaine graduated from Powerview Collegiate in 1961 and later attended the University of Manitoba where he graduated in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in political science.

Fontaine was 28 years old in 1973 when he was elected chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation, where he served two consecutive terms.

Phil Fontaine counts among the milestones of his leadership at the community level the first First Nation locally controlled education system in Canada, the first First Nation locally controlled child and family services system in Canada and the first First Nation alcohol treatment facility in Canada.

After his term as Sagkeeng chief, Fontaine was employed by the Southeast Tribal Council as a special advisor, and by the federal government as regional director general for the Yukon region before being elected Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in 1991. He served with AMC until 1997 and during that time gained national prominence for his stance on the Meech Lake Accord, which, in part, resulted in its defeat.

Fontaine also helped in the development of the framework agreement that saw an attempt by the federal government to implement the inherent right of self-government to restore First Nations jurisdiction to First Nations in Manitoba. Fontaine also helped fashion an employment equity agreement with 39 federal agencies during that time.

In 1997, Fontaine was elected to the job of national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. During his three years in that position, Fontaine brokered the federal government's statement of reconciliation, which included a statement of regret for those physically and sexually abused in the residential school environment.

He was the first First Nations leader to address the Organization of American States and also made the Declaration of Kinship and Cooperation among the Indigenous Nations f North America on behalf of Canada's First Nations peoples.

On March 30, 1998, he entered into a memorandum of understanding with CGA (Certified General Accountants) Canada to work together to raise First Nations financial reporting standards and increase the accounting and auditing knowledge, skill and capability of First Nations peoples.

Following his term as national chief, Fontaine was appointed chief commissioner of the Indian Claims Commission. He resigned this position in May to run for a second term in the AFN's top job.

Fontaine is the father of two children, Mike and Maya, and grandfather of five.

MATTHEW COON COME was born on his parents' trapline in Mistissini. His political career began when he was young and took the job as co-ordinator for the inland Cree communities in Quebec, negotiating the first Aboriginal self-government legislation in Canada-The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

Matthew Coon Come served two terms as chief of the Mistissini First Nations and went on to become the executive director of the Grand Council of the Crees.

He was first elected as grand chief of the council and chairman of the Cree Regional Authority in 1987, and was re-elected by the James Bay Cree people for four successive terms. While there he was involved in the council's successful effort to gain consultative status at the United Nations. In 1994, he won the Goldman Prize for marshalling the local, national and international environmental communities to stop a hydro-electric project on his people's land. In addition to the Goldman Prize, he is also a recipient of the Equinox Environemental Award and the Conde Naste Environemental Award.

Coon Come has been a director of Air Creebec, the Cree Regional Economic Enterprises Company, the Cree Construction Company, Servinor, the James Bay Cree Cultural Education Centre, the Cree Board of Health and Social Services, the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, and the Cree School Board.

He was chairma of the James Bay Eeyou Corporation and of the James Bay Native Development Corporation. In 1995 he became a founding member of the First Nations Bank of Canada.

Under Coon Come's direction, the Grand Council of the Crees intervened during the Supreme Court reference on Quebec succession, arguing that the Aboriginal peoples in that province should not be ignored on any question of separation. His name is attached to two of the largest treaty rights and treaty implementation cases currently before Canadian courts.

Coon Come has studied law, political science, economics and Native studies at Trent and McGill universities. On July 12, 2000, Coon Come was elected national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

In 1976 he married Maryann Matoush. They have three daughters and two sons.