Candidate Shawn Atleo, vice-chief of the assembly for British Columbia, speaks to the media during the AFN's annual general assembly in Calgary on Wednesday. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press) Candidate Perry Bellegarde, right, gets directions from former candidate Bill Wilson during the AFN general meeting in Calgary. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

The election of a new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations went to a fourth ballot in Calgary Wednesday night after the third round of voting had a B.C. businessman leading a band councillor from Saskatchewan by a single vote.

On the third ballot, British Columbia businessman Shawn Atleo led with 266 votes while Saskatchewan's Little Black Bear First Nation Coun. Perry Bellegarde received 265 votes.

A candidate needs 60 per cent of the vote to win. The next round of voting was to be held between 10 p.m and midnight MT.

In a surprise move after the first ballot, Ontario economist John Beaucage, who came in third, with 15 per cent of the vote, decided to drop out of the contest and throw his support behind Bellegarde.

Manitoba author and consultant Terrance Nelson finished fourth, surprising many with 10 per cent of the vote. B.C. land claims treaty negotiator Bill Wilson finished last with one per cent. Both Nelson and Wilson were knocked off after the first round of voting and also threw their support behind Bellegarde.

Some 639 First Nations chiefs were eligible to cast ballots at the AFN's annual general meeting to replace outgoing national chief Phil Fontaine.

Differing platforms

Atleo, vice-chief of the assembly for British Columbia, is the youngest candidate, at 42. He was considered by many observers to be the frontrunner and promoted himself as a bridge builder and boasts a long history as a regional politician.

The key is a united native front across Canada to push for fair access to natural resources on traditional lands, Atleo told delegates Tuesday.

"We know economic independence is political independence. Economic power is political power," he said.

Bellegarde told delegates his business background will help the AFN. He has said economic development and employment are among the priorities he would focus on as national chief.

Extreme poverty in First Nations communities will likely dominate the new leader's agenda, said Fontaine, who led the assembly for nine years.

"The person that comes in is going to have to continue to press our case in terms of Canada's single most important social-justice issue, and that's First Nations poverty. Our people are simply too poor," Fontaine said Tuesday in his opening remarks at the meeting.

The new leader will also have to contend with the spread of swine flu in First Nations communities, which Fontaine said he considers an "unacceptable" symptom of poverty. The H1N1 influenza strain blamed for at least 45 deaths across Canada has taken a disproportionate hold on reserves.

"The H1N1 flu, that's a scary situation and that's simply to do with poverty, severe overcrowding and no access to safe drinking water and poor access to quality health care," Fontaine said.

With files from The Canadian Press