The trials of Shawn Atleo
APTN details the chatter about Shawn Atleo’s health and leadership and the Globe looks at the possibility of a non-confidence vote, while Tim Harper reports on threats and infighting.
As he rode to a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper last Friday, Shawn Atleo’s Blackberry buzzed. “Since you have decided to betray me, all I ask of you now is to help carry my cold dead body off this island,’’ the text message said.
It was sent in the name of Chief Theresa Spence, but those who saw the text believe it came from someone else in her circle on Victoria Island. But they were certain about one thing — the timing, moments before he went into one of the most important meetings of his life, was meant to destabilize the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations and undermine his efforts at a meeting which many in his organization fiercely opposed.