Jerry Daniels' leave as Grand Chief to be 'extended': SCO

Southern Chiefs' Organization Grand Chief Jerry Daniels talks with media after a Hudson’s Bay Company transfer ceremony in Winnipeg Friday, April 22, 2022. (John Woods/The Canadian Press)

Jerry Daniels’ leave as Grand Chief of the Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) will be extended.

On Sunday, the SCO announced the chief’s executive committee will hold a chiefs-in-summit next month, which will “focus on the apology recently offered by Grand Chief Jerry Daniels and identify the best path forward.”

The organization added that Daniels’ leave will be extended accordingly.

This news comes after the SCO announced on Dec. 19 that Daniels would be returning from leave on Jan. 6.

The organization previously said he would be on leave for an “undetermined length of time for health reasons.”

Cornell McLean of Lake Manitoba First Nation has been the acting Grand Chief in the interim.

Daniels was re-elected as Grand Chief for a third term earlier in the year.