The British Columbia Assembly of First Nations (BCAFN) is a Political Territorial Organization (PTO) that represents the 203 First Nations in British Columbia.
The BCAFN is a regional arm of the National Assembly of First Nations (AFN), which makes the Regional Chief an Executive Member of the AFN Executive Committee. The Regional Chief represents the regional concerns of the BCAFN constituents on the Executive Committee to ensure that regional perspectives are included in National political discussions and decision-making. The Regional Chief also holds specific portfolios that deal with national policy issues and concerns.
The BCAFN is also an incorporated society under the Societies Act of British Columbia (S-45919). This allows the BCAFN to operate with its own regionally specific mandates and to establish relationships with the Provincial government and other organizations, in addition to the relationship that the BCAFN holds with the AFN. The BCAFN operates to create linkages between the regional and national political processes to ensure that these activities are communicated and represented at a community level.
The Regional Chief hosts regional assemblies that allow for the First Nations leadership of BC to engage in open socio-political discussion in order to provide direction and mandates to the Regional Chief that are community-driven. The Regional Chief then ensures that these mandates are represented and advocated at both the regional and federal levels.
The BCAFN is working towards creating new and better memories for First Nations that include meaningful participatory relationships with the provincial and federal governments as well as with industry to close the socio-economic gap that exists for First Nations.