The next AFN chief: RoseAnne Archibald Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here to get it delivered weekday mornings. RoseAnne Archibald will be the first woman to lead the Assembly of First Nations after Reginald Bellerose conceded before a sixth round of voting on Thursday evening, the Canadian Press reports. Bellerose, of Saskatchewan, had declined to concede after Archibald was leading on the fourth round. Archibald was first elected chief of Taykwa Tagamou First Nation, a Cree community of 440 between Cochrane, Ont., and Iroquois Falls, at the age of 23. Archibald has previously pushed to make the AFN a more equitable organization for women. On the same day: Jody Wilson-Raybould announced Thursday she will not run in the next election. The first Indigenous justice minister said she is discouraged by the political system: “It has become more and more toxic and ineffective while simultaneously marginalizing individuals from certain backgrounds. Federal politics is, in my view, increasingly a disgraceful triumph of harmful partisanship over substantive action.” The Globe points out she has a book coming out that may touch on her conversations with Justin Trudeau over the SNC Lavalin prosecution, which is what drove her from cabinet. She said she has a plan for what comes next but won't say what it is just yet. The enemy within: In Maclean's August cover feature, Marie Danielle Smith tells the harrowing story of a current Canadian Forces member who was allegedly sexually harassed on the job and then received an apology from a senior officer after her tormenter left the unit without any charges being laid. The officer later stepped down as vice chief of the defence staff after playing a round of golf with retired chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance, who is under investigation for an alleged inappropriate consensual relationship. Smith found a widespread and disturbing pattern: deep distrust in the institutions that are supposed to protect members from mistreatment, and a belief that bad actors within the system will protect perpetrators and ostracize or punish complainants Seeking justice: Mumilaaq Qaqqaq and Charlie Angus held a news conference on Thursday to demand David Lametti launch an investigation into "crimes against humanity" against two priests who have been accused of sexual and physical abuse at residential schools, CBC reports. One is dead but the other is in France. RCMP issued a warrant for his arrest in 1998. "The abuse at his hands has caused generations of trauma," Qaqqaq said. $10 a day: Justin Trudeau was in Coquitlam with John Horgan on Thursday to announce a deal for $10-a-day child care for children under six—in five years—and lower fees for others, the Canadian Press reports. Trudeau said it was part of a “feminist recovery,” which sounds like something we may hear again on the campaign trail. B.C. marks the first province to sign on to the Liberal offer laid out in the April budget, which pledged $27.2 billion over five years, starting this fiscal year, in new spending that the governing party aims to send to provinces to subsidize daycares. The specific strings attached to the pledge will dictate what forms of child care could be eligible for federal funding, and how much parental fees must drop over the next five years. Federal Liberals have long campaigned by promising to fund a Quebec-style subsidized day care, with the NDP complaining that they never follow through, and the Conservatives preferring tax measures, since they also help stay-at-home parents. Jagmeet Singh was also in B.C., complaining about Liberal inaction on housing affordability. Money for Alberta: Erin O'Toole was in Calgary on Thursday, a day after Trudeau came through, to promise more money for Alberta, CBC reports. Albertans "pay more than their fair share to support the rest of the country," O'Toole said. O'Toole promised to rejig the Fiscal Stabilization Program, which would provide Alberta $4 billion in rebates. Meanwhile in Edmonton, Jason Kenney shuffled his cabinet, although none of the main ministers were moved. Open up: The tCanadian Chamber of Commerce urged the Liberals on Thursday to hold off on an election until they lay out a plan to reopen the Canada-U.S. border and allow the entry of fully vaccinated foreign travellers, the Globe reports. “We need this plan today—not after an election," said Perrin Beatty "And it needs to be based on medical science, not political science.” In B.C., Trudeau said not to expect unvaccinated tourists for quite a while. Contre Simon: Sovereignist columnist Mathieu Bock-Côté is unimpressed by Mary Simon's appointment, he writes in Le Journal de Montréal, because she doesn't speak French, but even he doesn't think it will reawaken dormant separatism: "Appelons ça le paradoxe politique québécois : jamais les raisons de quitter le Canada n’ont été aussi nombreuses et évidentes, et jamais le mouvement indépendantiste n’a été aussi faible." Welcome to Sucksville, population O’Toole: In Maclean's, former Stephen Harper spinner Andrew MacDougall writes that Erin O'Toole is "somewhere in the middle of the road and in danger of being run over in both directions," but also that he "must listen to voices outside of its existing base and find new ways of appealing to a broader subset of Canadians." Amos back at work: Pontiac MP Will Amos, who made headlines around the world for appearing twice on online Parliamentary sessions in a state of undress, held a news conference for hand-picked reporters on Thursday, the Low Down to Hull & Back News reports. Amos, who is headed back to work, said a medical team have determined the incidents were due to "hyperactive multitasking and a lack of focus.” But he wasn't trying to do anything bad. “These were not circumstances of any ill-intent, unethical personal gain, or moral wrongdoing.” — Stephen Maher | 
