Winnipeg, MB.–The leaders of Canada’s First Nations are nearly split in their support of Phil Fontaine and Matthew Coon Come for National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations in an upcoming election to be held this summer.

According to a poll conducted by Taiga Communications Inc. and The First Perspective 28 per cent favoured Fontaine, while 25 per cent say they would back incumbent Matthew Coon Come.

The poll asked Canada’s chiefs to choose between four potential leadership candidates including Six Nations Chief Roberta Jamieson, who placed third with 12 per cent support and Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Stewart Phillip, who placed fourth with eight per cent.

But the poll also revealed that a significant number of chiefs, 12 per cent, are undecided at this point while sixteen percent of chiefs canvassed for the poll abstained from participating.

Of the four potential candidates in the poll none have officially confirmed their candidacy for the July 16 election to be held in Edmonton however, political advisors for both Fontaine and Coon Come have been actively gauging support among the nation’s chiefs. Jamieson and Phillip are both widely considered by political observers to be considering a run for the post as well. Candidates have until June 11 to file nomination papers

The poll also asked leaders to identify the major issues important to them in this election. The chiefs ranked “improving social conditions on reserves” and “self-determination and self-government” as the two most important issues. “Transparency and Accountability” was cited as the least important.

The poll was conducted during the week of May 20-27th, just six weeks ahead of the upcoming election. The poll was undertaken by randomly selecting 100 chiefs to interview from a total of 632 First Nation leaders across Canada. The results are considered accurate to within +4.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error was determined by Professor Alexander Basilevsky of the University of Winnipeg