Grand Chief Candidates

The names are in, and the race is on.

Once again, it’s election time for the top positions of the Grand Council of the Crees and the Cree Nation Government. Advance polls open July 7 and election day is July 14 to decide which two of the hopeful candidates will helm the CNG for the next four years.

This year’s vote will be hotly contested, with Deputy Grand Chief Mandy Gull and musician Pakesso Mukash challenging current Grand Chief Abel Bosum for the top job.

Three candidates are running for Deputy Grand Chief. They include Ashley Iserhoff, who held the job from 2005-2009, Cree Justice Coordinator Donald Nicholls, and Ouje-Bougoumou Natural Resources Director Norman Wapachee.

The Nation sent each candidate the same eight questions. Their answers follow below. Pakesso Mukash declined to participate.

Now voters can find out each candidate’s position on the most pressing issues faced by the people of Eeyou Istchee.

Good luck to all the candidates.

Abel Bosum

1) With housing being a big topic, what would you see done to address the lack of housing? What are the priorities with regards to funding or training needed for the Cree Nation to be able to deal with this issue?

Access for all Crees to decent, affordable housing is a top priority for me as it continues to be a major priority for the Cree Nation. During my current term of office, I am very proud of the achievements we have made so far, and my priority is to build on those achievements.

Over the last four years, we worked in close collaboration with all the communities to put in place an ambitious and comprehensive Cree Nation Housing Strategy to address all sectors of the housing market. Private homeownership by Cree people is one of the cornerstones of our Strategy, which also seeks to address the needs of those who will continue to require support, including families, Cree Elders, trappers, persons with disabilities and our youth population.

The Cree Nation Housing Strategy has enormous potential for unlocking wealth for the Cree Nation and Cree individuals and for stimulating our local Cree economies while, at the same time, creating employment and solving a number of persistent social issues related to overcrowded housing. One of the important consequences of implementing our Cree Nation Housing Strategy is that we will be in a position to address the housing needs of our young people who leave for college and university and come back looking for jobs and housing.

During my term of office:

We have established a new Community Private Housing Initiative to encourage Cree access to private homeownership and to facilitate the short-term construction of at least 1,000 new private housing units in the Cree communities.

We have put in place various measures to encourage and support those Cree individuals who wish to do so to move from rented social housing units to private home ownership.

We have created a $100 million Private Housing Fund to provide financial support for a large segment of our Cree population who qualify for private housing.

We have effectively established private property rights in Eeyou Istchee through the removal of the 75-year limit on land rights to enable Cree homeowners, for the first time, to build up equity in their homes, and to allow them to sell their homes to other Crees or to pass them on to their children. This is a watershed moment for the Crees, which will accelerate the creation of a robust real estate market in the Cree communities.

We have secured recognition of Cree land rights by a number of major financial institutions in Canada, and we have worked with them and other key players to find concrete solutions and remove obstacles to make it easier for Cree individuals to access homeownership and mortgage loans.

Through our private housing initiative, it will be possible to provide our people with opportunities to build their own homes while, at the same time, we will be able to free up social housing for those who genuinely need it.

Now that we have opened the door to true ownership and provided resources so people can access it more quickly, we will all have to work together to bring the cost of construction down. This will require all entities, communities and the Cree Nation Government (CNG) working together. We must be able to give all community members choices while ensuring that the economic development opportunity represented by housing stays in Eeyou Istchee.

We have continued to have discussions and to develop partnerships with both the Governments of Quebec and Canada, to see how they can contribute to our Cree Nation Housing Strategy and become part of the solution – particularly in the area of social housing. Even if we make significant increases in private housing, social housing will always be very important in our communities. We have requested new investment from the Government of Canada of over $260 million over 10 years, in addition to existing commitments. We are also seeking to assume greater responsibility for developing and implementing our own housing programs that truly meet the needs and realities of our communities. These discussions will continue so that we can continue to develop a more robust housing initiative for our people. We know how to do this, and we will.

We have come a long way in the last four years, and we finally have a solid foundation upon which we can build, in the next four years, affordable and sustainable housing solutions for all our members of the Cree Nation.

2) Do you have any plans or ideas to deal with the issue of homeless Cree, including the “hidden homeless” who are forced with stay with friends or relatives, both within Eeyou Istchee and in urban centres like Val-d’Or, Montreal, and Ottawa?

The question of homeless Cree people who are staying with relatives within our communities or in urban centres is directly related to the availability of housing in our communities especially the type of housing. It comes back to choices; our people need access to choices. There needs to be a greater variety of housing options in the community. Where are the bachelor units, for example? We need to build units that reflect the needs of our communities, family sizes are changing, people are waiting before starting families, these people need options.

The Cree Nation is changing very quickly and to make sure that no one is left behind we need to work together as a Nation, free from the programs or restrictions of outside governments and be imaginative. We have recently secured over $20 million from the Government of Canada to address the immediate needs of homeless and other vulnerable peoples in our communities through the Rapid Housing Initiative and the Reaching Home Program. Addressing the needs of homeless and other vulnerable peoples in our communities is a central part of our Cree Nation Housing Strategy and of our Cree proposal for a partnership with Canada and Quebec.

3) The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of a strong healthcare system. What would be your priorities for health care, including for patients who have to seek treatment outside of the territory, and what if any changes would you like to see?

I consider that the major lesson we have all taken to heart during the Covid-19 pandemic is that with the adequate resources – financial resources and human resources – we ourselves are in the best position to address any and all challenges that come before us. I am very proud of the fact that the Cree Nation, through our Cree institutions together with our communities, have been able to stay safe during this pandemic and we have not experienced any serious outbreak of the Covid-19 virus in any of our communities.

We have been able to stay safe by taking things into our own hands and we didn’t wait for anyone else to solve our problems. Over the course of my first term in office, we were able to successfully negotiate a very robust funding agreement for our Cree Board of Health and Social Services. This has given us the resources that will permit us to continue to address our own priorities in the area of health and social services, and we will do so ourselves – chiiyaanuu, together, and in the spirit of niikaanihch, setting our own priorities and setting the path forward.

We got through this pandemic, but it has demonstrated that we are too reliant on services outside Eeyou Istchee that need to be available inside Eeyou Istchee. During the pandemic too many people skipped important medical appointments because they were afraid to go to an area of risk, while they knew that the safest place was inside their community. I don’t blame them, both my wife and I found medical appointments in the south very difficult and challenging. We followed numerous self-isolations and it wasn’t easy.

We need to bring those services home. The priority should be developing the capacity at home first; second it should be importing the services or making it available remotely in our communities; and the last choice should be sending our people away for health services. Even when there is no pandemic, when you are having medical issues, you want to be with your family not with strangers, building the capacity to care for our people at home is very important. The CNG can assist with negotiations with the Quebec government and help ensure that the infrastructure is there in our region.

4) Environment and sustainability are long-term challenges. What are some of the challenges you’d want to address? How would you help ensure the long-term sustainability of traditional harvesting practices, including protecting caribou populations, moose populations, and populations of fish and waterfowl?

We have an excellent record on environmental matters, we have the highest ratio of protected areas in the province, we have prevented and will continue to prevent uranium mining in Eeyou Istchee, and in my first year I even prevented Hydro-Québec from even proposing a project on the Nottaway River. These are very important, but we can do so much more.

The Cree Trappers’ Association has successfully developed and implemented a college-accredited program for traditional activity with our support. This is extremely important as a first step to lifting up the role of hunters and trappers. Hunters and trappers, the men and women who live on the land, are our professionals. We need to treat them as our most respected professionals. This means changing the Cree Hunters and Trappers Income Security Program so that it does not treat them like welfare recipients, so that it does not punish them if they participate in works to protect the land, the wildlife or repair damage that has been done to the land. The cap on the amount that can be contributed to the Cree Hunters and Trappers Income Security Program must be removed.

It is one thing to create a protected area or designate wildlife that needs our special attention, it is another to manage these areas or be responsible for the management of wildlife. We are in discussions with Quebec right now to define the management role the Cree Nation will play in managing protected areas and the Ministers of Wildlife and Native Affairs and I all agreed to set up table to discuss wildlife management where I know we can demonstrate that with the incredible skill of our hunters and trappers, local administrations and regional capacity we are the most credible to be managing wildlife in Eeyou Istchee.

It was Cree hunters and trappers who saved the beaver population when they collapsed long ago, they will always be the ones best suited to protect wildlife so that they will always be there for future generations.

5) How would you deal with the issue of food security, and ensuring that people have access to good quality food?

Our people need choice and we should always demand choice. We need to get away from the colonial model that was always applied to us. It was the Hudson’s Bay manager who decided what would be available locally, it was priests and nuns who would decide what we ate at residential school. Why should we let this continue? Why should we not demand the same service and choices that exist in the south?

I was proud to see numerous initiatives during my term for the development of local greenhouses, developing local capacity is always good and we should always do what we can to support this local capacity. Again, this pandemic has taught us a lot and how we need to be more self-reliant. When it comes to food aside from focusing on the healthiest food for us, which is the food that comes from the land, we need to support and develop the transportation infrastructure needed to deliver quality fresh food in our communities. Before the pandemic it was always a non-Native businessman who would arrive with frozen meats or other goods in our communities. I started to see our own people working to fulfill this service, this is what we need to support. It might sound strange but we need to become more demanding of the services that we are provided.

6) There are concerns often raised that young people in particular aren’t learning as much Cree language and culture. How do you help to get young people to want to learn more about their history, language and culture?

Preserving our Cree language is certainly a challenge, and there is not just one way to do that. I am proud that the very first law that we adopted after signing our last self-government agreement with Canada was the adoption of the Cree Language Act. That says a lot when our first legislative act was to promote and protect our language. The Act established the Cree Language Commission, and we appointed Jamie Moses as the first Cree Language Commissioner. This will provide a focus and the resources to undertake important program development aimed at protecting and promoting our Cree language. It is good to see that communities are adopting their own language acts and naming commissioners because it is going to take all entities and local governments working together to promote and protect our language.

I believe that promoting the traditional way of life as a professional will also indirectly encourage the use of our Cree language and ensure its protection. Since our traditional land-users are the protectors, not only of our land, but our Cree language, we have taken measures to enhance the economic viability of the traditional Cree way of life.

These, and other initiatives – taken together – all contribute to the use, the promotion and the protection of the Cree way of life. Even initiatives such as our repatriation of the “Gunner Hood” to the Cree Nation have a significant role to play. Actions such as this, and there will be more similar ones as we continue to repatriate Cree objects which are found in museums around the world, speak to the beauty and the integrity of our culture. It will be through such actions, and the things that we all do on a day-to-day basis, that will continue to inspire our youth to deepen their ties to our culture and language.

So, it is not just one thing – it will be many things that will contribute to the enhancement of our Cree language, and I commit to continuing on this vital path.

7) Are there any concerns you want to address with policing, or ways you envision changing or enhancing policing in the Cree communities?

Most of the issues that we must address as a Nation in enhancing policing in our communities come down to issues around human and financial resources required to increase the level of effective peacekeeping and policing in our communities, and to further adapt our approach to policing to better address the realities in our communities – culturally and socially.

I am pleased that during our first term in office, we have secured a first-ever long-term 10-year funding agreement, including for the first-time capital resources to support precisely these kinds of enhancements. These funding agreements provide the Cree Nation with the financial capacity and long-term financial security to plan and implement a truly Cree Police Force adapted to our cultural and social needs.

The most important challenge we face at present is one of capacity building. We now have the financial resources to engage fully qualified Cree police officers however, our challenge is attracting and retaining our local people to ensure that the EEPF can in fact deliver culturally and socially relevant services to our communities.

The EEPF and our Human Resources Department have now developed several new training and employment initiatives which will allow us to attract more Cree persons who wish to develop a career in policing. We are also developing new compensation and incentive programs aimed at ensuring that the EEPF has truly attractive working conditions which are competitive in all environments.

If reelected, we will in the coming months be introducing the kind of changes that will increase the sense of security and safety for people in our communities.

8) Are there any other issues that you would make a priority?

We all feel that our world is changing quickly, and we are being asked to adapt too quickly and we must not underestimate the pressure on our youth. They are the first to feel the pressures of changes in technology and the isolation that seems to be associated with the modern world. Many are taking that brave step of going off to post-secondary school to better themselves so that they can come home and contribute to the future of our communities. Are we doing all we can to ensure that they have housing options when they come home? We should, because they represent a sound investment in housing, they have been reliable renters paying their rent consistently for years before coming home. Are we giving them enough housing options? Not everybody wants or needs a 3- or 4-bedroom house as their first house. Most importantly are we offering them employment opportunities at home? Not everyone wants to work on a worksite away from home. There is so much work being carried out in Eeyou Istchee, why are the administrative and professional services associated with these works not being delivered from our communities? The pandemic has demonstrated that it is not true that these jobs need to be based in urban centres. We have been working on a proposal which will require any company working in Eeyou Istchee to invest in employment development in our communities. Our communities need our youth and they need us.

Over recent weeks, we have needed each other even more as we have all been traumatized by the revelations from the Kamloops Indian Residential School. It has been hard to think about anything other than the tragic and horrifying discoveries of the unmarked graves of 215 innocent children. For those who went to Residential School it brings up terrible memories and for those who did not go to residential schools it raises terrible questions and fears because it is hard as a parent to share with your children what you went through. I am afraid that things will get harder as we support the Cree Nation of Chisasibi as the Residential School sites in Fort George are secured and investigated. It will get harder as we get more news from the other Residential Schools across Canada where our people were also taken. We will need to come together as friends, families and communities. We survived Residential School by sticking together, protecting each other and caring for each other. This is what we need to do today.

I support the measures on the part of several of our communities to cancel Canada Day celebrations this year. Let this Canada Day be a time when, collectively, we declare that we must now close the chapter on colonialism, dispossession, systemic racism and hatred once and for all. The Cree Nation has done exceptionally well despite all the adversity we have faced, and we can do even better, and we will do even better.

—

Mandy Gull

Housing, unfortunately, continues to be a significant issue despite the many programs put into place. I truly think that we need to re-define what we see as lack of housing and look at the root cause – one that I see as a “barrier to accessing housing.” That barrier consists of many elements, one being the lack of training provided to those seeking home ownership.

We have to empower those wanting to build a private home with information and tools to understand the responsibility and work required to purchase their own home. Once we truly understand the financial tool of home ownership, I think we will transition until having a larger and more substantive housing market.

A major contributing barrier is the cost of housing – we are in a position that we must truly challenge ourselves to think outside of the box for housing. First is evaluating the cost of materials and look at bulk buying materials for distribution at the local level to reduce the outrageous expense of building a home in the community. Further I strongly encourage seeking alternative materials and building styles to move away from stick built as the cost of lumber is extremely high.

I had the opportunity as part of my work with the justice committee to have a bit of insight into this issue and gain some knowledge on existing programs that we are putting into place. I do not think we can deal with homelessness by simply looking at homelessness itself, but we have to have a better understanding of the root cause. This is an issue that we have to be more proficient at responding to by actually addressing it and being aware that we have a responsibility to understand why Cree Nation members are facing this issue.

My family was one that was severely impacted by Covid-19 with the loss of my father-in-law. I hope to see a reevaluation of our patients seeking medical care for reoccurring illnesses. I find it challenging that we have to travel outside of the territory, but we need to have better protocols in place to address preventative healthcare Especially when we see so many patients going to the clinic numerous times before they are provided with additional follow-up. A role as a government is to support the healthcare system and I truly believe that those who are in place right now are open and willing to collaborate on creating a stronger Cree model of healthcare.

We need to assert more governance over the land by creating our own environmental and cultural legislation that outlines key regulations with respect to Cree culture. We need to go beyond our present position and use the tools we have as Crees.

We need to understand the critical state of wildlife. There is a serious need to undertake our own scientific and cultural studies to understand the impact on the wildlife. Further, we have to supplement this with greater access to the territory. We need to develop programs that are present and used in every part of Eeyou Istchee and continue to learn traditional practices and Endohuun. We must sustain the ability to have traditional knowledge to harvest and practice the Cree way of life to ensure that we are protecting wildlife according to traditional values. We need to work on doing more to pass this on to secure it for the future.

This issue is a cornerstone of my platform. I’m very concerned about preservation of language and ensuring that we all have enough tools to learn our language and culture.

At the moment, we have one person, Jamie Moses, who is our first Cree Language Commissioner, but that’s not enough for the large amount of work that needs to be done. I believe he needs to have an organization supporting his work.

I’m one of the people who worked really hard to regain lost language skills and I’m very proud of that. I want to ensure that others feel that way and I believe that starts with providing them with more tools which will mean a serious investment of Cree funds.

7) Are there any concerns you want to address with policing, or ways you envision changing or enhancing policing in the Cree communities?

About five years ago we had a comprehensive policing assessment presented at the council board and yet we haven’t undertaken a new review of the findings of that report or analyzed if the solutions offered are working for us. I believe in the continued review of government. This is not a one-time approach and that applies to all our departments and social services, like policing. We must evaluate if the services we are offering to the people are performing to the best of their ability and meeting the needs of our members. This is something I would like to ensure is continuously carried out.

8) Are there any other issues that you would make a priority?

I believe that the Cree Nation needs to look into the future and carry out a visioning exercise based on actual population statistics. For example, five years from now we will see a boom of young children who are entering into school, and 15 years after that we will see a large group of people entering the workforce. Ten years after that an exponential growth of families are going to create a high demand on the programs and services at both the regional and local level.

I’m looking 40 years into the future to create an Eeyou Istchee that will support their needs, so that we will have the tools, language and teachings in place for them to continue being proud of their Cree identity. Every level of leadership wants to have a greater say in making decisions and we must ensure a collaborative approach to achieve that goal.

We have a lot of work to do on the current state of the nation, but we also have the obligation to continuously plan for those who are coming after us. We need to have a strong financial plan to meet their needs. This is why these two elements are important components in my campaign platform.

—

DEPUTY GRAND CHIEF CANDIDATES

Ashley Iserhoff

This is an issue that is always brought up at election time, promises are made, however, it seems to be still an issue today. We seem to be waiting on governments to fulfil their obligations; however, we will not catch up with the backlog with the way we are going. I believe we need to be innovative and think outside the box so that we can have more housing available. One idea that comes to mind is the regional organizations can open their housing to Cree people who are employees. Working with the leadership, we can invest more resources into housing, I am aware the Cree Nation Government is working on addressing it. Encouraging those who can build, we should have an easier system to support them.

I’ve sat with people who are homeless in Mistissini, because of my previous role as Director of Health & Social Development, I heard many stories of the challenges people face when they’re homeless. In my discussions an idea that we had was to build small homes as a pilot project, to help the single people who are homeless, and we do know there are some families that are in the same situation. I hope it’s being done this summer in a few of the communities. Being innovative is key and I can tell you that we do have financial resources that can address the homeless situation. Many who are out, do want to come home, we must make it happen. With this, I would work with the leadership in the communities to address it.

I brought up the issue at a leadership call last August 2020 that would have to face mental health and strategize on the after-effects of the pandemic. Many people’s traumas might have come back with all the restrictions and protocols we had. It was a very challenging time for all of us. In my managerial role in Mistissini, the strategy has been to always work with stakeholders, working with the Cree Health Board in this and community health departments would be important. I know we were able to have a support mechanism in Mistissini and it’s still on-going today. There are lot of patients who want to come home and receive care in Eeyou Istchee, specialized conditions do require specialized professionals to have services in our community. I do know the CSB is addressing this, and I would continue to advocate both with the CHB and working with governments for resources.

Cree Elders have taught us to always protect Eeyou Istchee, major decisions that are made today will have an impact on future generations, therefore, we do need to be mindful of this. There can be development, but at the same time, if we assess certain projects that are not compatible with the Cree way, we can simply say no. In 2012, when I was Deputy Grand Chief, I spoke at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission hearings where I stated the Cree Nation was not interested in uranium development. Whatever happens out in Eeyou Istchee, it will affect everything that survives off the land. We have to make responsible decisions so that we can continue our way of life. We do have environmental regimes under the JBNQA that reviews all projects whether they are acceptable or not.

5) How would you deal with the issue of food security, and ensuring that people have access to good quality food?

With the growing health concerns in Eeyou Istchee, food seems to be costlier than a few years ago. Processed food is purchased more because it’s cheaper. I think creating a sustainable program of having Cree food readily available for the vulnerable. If it’s not done yet, perhaps a program that can help from the Cree Trappers’ Association to provide traditional food in the communities at a reasonable cost, we should look at it and create new opportunities. I do know at provincial and federal governments, there are incentives for northern communities and working with food suppliers so that good quality good can be distributed throughout the communities at an affordable price.

I grew up in Montreal part of my life. One of the attractions of coming back after I was done school was seeing the Cree people being bold and I was proud of our people standing up for what was right. They knew certain development projects would have a negative impact out in Eeyou Istchee. I think stories of our own history will inspire our young people to learn about us. I know our young people love being out on the land. I was once young, I almost lost speaking Cree, I came home and sat with many people and learned. Using our own history and teaching it to our young people is important, using our own people to share the stories. I know the Cree School Board has started the process, even the stories of the residential schools, more recently the 215 children who were found, we are slowly hearing of more stories of what our people faced.

7) Are there any concerns you want to address with policing, or ways you envision changing or enhancing policing in the Cree communities?

Police are there to protect and serve our communities. Back in 2016, I remember we had one police officer working when a major community event happened. I was surprised when I was informed there was only one working. Before I was appointed as the Police Commissioner by the Council/Board, these were concerns that I already brought up to the negotiating team, however, I was informed funders wouldn’t fund more officers per community. We do need more officers in our communities. We do need to address the drugs situation because it is tearing a lot of families apart and leads to addictions. One way to enhance policing is to change the way we deliver the services; we need to look at the service as people who are helping our communities to be safe and secure. I’m proud of our officers who are doing an amazing job despite the number of officers out on patrol.

8) Are there any other issues that you would make a priority?

If I am elected, my plan would be to review the resolutions that were passed from general assemblies and follow up because the Cree Nation Government is there to support the communities. I’ve always worked with local leadership in my previous mandate as Deputy Grand Chief.

I remember many stories of people sharing the time when the JBNQA was negotiated, our trappers and hunters were the ones who spoke on our behalf. If they didn’t take that stand and speak for future generations, I don’t think we would be where we are today. They spoke not just for themselves, but for future generations. We have the responsibility to ensure the Cree Trappers’ Association and other Cree organizations which promote our way of life, the arts, our children and youth, our women, our education system, our health system, to name a few is supported by Cree leadership and to never look down on the organizations. They help a great deal with all of the challenges we face.

We should be building our people, our communities and our future, not just with infrastructure but helping our people.

Donald Nicholls

Housing is something that I take the opportunity to speak about every time I am before the government since the Cree Nation Government emphasized it at the Viens Commission. It relates to so many other issues in our Nation and our overall standard of living. We need to build a nation of builders. I have advocated for a YouthBuild-type program in the Cree Nation. This program has been successful with Indigenous Peoples and in inner-city neighbourhoods in the USA for over 40 years. It allows students to learn trades and work on construction sites while in secondary school. The trade unions, or in our case the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ), would allow them to accumulate hours towards their levels of certification should the students wish to pursue a trade. If we give our youth the tools they need to build, then the future in housing is surely theirs. It goes without saying, that we also need to ensure that Cree workers are a part of any work site within the Cree Nation. It is important that we build up our trades and professions; this was never more apparent than during the last two years of construction when Covid-19 measures prevented us from engaging in important building projects and homes in our Nation. We’ve also begun a project in Justice and Corrections to build transitional housing for those returning to our communities for any number of reasons.

The transitional housing that we have been waiting to build in Justice for the last few years will have spaces for those who find themselves homeless. We have received a grant from the government to pay for some “tiny homes” in the communities to address this issue. The only thing that is delaying these projects is the lack of construction during Covid-19. If we can provide an environment where people with socio-economic barriers can receive support, services and training, then they will have the opportunity to take the next steps in their lives. As we look at this issue together, it is important to acknowledge the “hidden” needs as well. At the beginning of this year, I was contacted by the Cree Health Board to participate in building some shelters, and I agreed wholeheartedly that we would be available to discuss a collaboration on these types of services. As for urban centres, I was asked to sit on a provincial table looking at needs for Cree who access services in Chibougamau, and most recently, looked at a project by the Val-d’Or Friendship Centre on possible collaborations that would help address homelessness. It is one of those solutions where partners matter.

Healthcare is a concern to everyone. During the pandemic we have done well with isolation measures, but we need to build our healthcare capacity for the future. What will we do with future pandemics or waves or other health issues that may arise? H1N1, SARS, … were not that long ago, and what was our response? We need to impress upon the Ministry of Health that it is time to build capacity and essential services within our Health Board – equipment and training for personnel to deal with respiratory pandemics, for example. Now is the time to look at what we can build. We have become so good at monitoring Covid-19 and how it is tracking through our Nation, regions, province or countries, that perhaps we could apply this to other areas of health concern such as cancer or other health conditions within our Nation. We have increased the use of telemedicine during the pandemic, we should see how this has impacted the overall healthcare in our communities. As a Nation, we are now more connected on this issue than ever before and can think about ways we can work together to improve.

We are vigilant on the environment as the land is our strength. It is intricately connected to our culture and the exercise of our traditional activities. To look at sustainability of the land, there is a Department of Environment with expertise, impact-assessment committees, organizations such as the Cree Trappers’ Association, tallymen and now the newly created land keepers who can contribute to the monitoring of land in terms of traditional harvesting activities. Each group also has ideas to ensure populations of moose, caribou, fish and waterfowl are preserved for current and future generations of Cree hunters. If we start from the understanding of the importance of our lands and culture to our people, then we cannot help but come up with solutions. It was not long ago that youth stood up to uranium development in the Cree Nation and that our leaders paddled their way to Earth Day in New York City to protect the Cree lifestyle and our environment.

5) How would you deal with the issue of food security, and ensuring that people have access to good quality food?

Food security is a key issue for us as a Nation, as this was a big concern during the pandemic. The governments guaranteed that the food supply chain would not be interrupted, and the delivery vehicles for essential services like food were exempt from isolation measures. While this was the case during the pandemic, should we not now take the opportunity to plan for a future? I know some communities have been looking at greenhouses and types of food crops they can grow in their areas. As mentioned above to ensure sustainable harvesting of animals, waterfowl and fish is important as these are staples in our food supply. People are also doing smart gardens in their homes with herbs and small plants. This technology of using lights and water can be used to grow larger crops in any indoor environment. There can be community gardens at schools to teach children on how to grow food, and to help them learn about the type of natural foods that are in our environment already. I know there are cranberry harvests, berries, mushrooms, Labrador tea, and many other plants we could use for food in our environment.

One of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was to put in all our schools age-appropriate learning on the residential schools. Youth should not be learning from media about such an important issue. The TRC and the recently passed Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples support education on culture, language and history. We need to breathe life into these documents by including them in our schools. I know the Cree School Board has a working group on the history curriculum, and that there are culture classes and Cree as a language of instruction; however, learning should still be on the land as well. I would continue to support and advocate for land-based programs where young people can learn the culture and history in the setting it has traditionally been taught in. In the summers, there are youth canoe brigades and, in the winter, wellness walks and traditional hunts. There must be opportunities for youth to be on the land and in environments where naturally they would practice and learn about the culture and language associated with that activity. There is an interesting program run in another Indigenous Nation – when a student graduates from secondary school, before going to school in the south they have the opportunity to go on the land for a few months to learn traditional skills, culture and history. However, we do have cultural breaks throughout our year where families get to return to the land as well.

7) Are there any concerns you want to address with policing, or ways you envision changing or enhancing policing in the Cree communities?

Policing is an essential frontline service in our communities. I know that recruitment is an issue as those who want to become Cree police officers may have issues with some of the requirements even though those requirements may not apply to the work they will ultimately do in their communities. The police launched and have been promoting a Neighbourhood Watch program to create more connections with community members to address public safety together. The Eeyou Eenou Police Force has also been looking at more community policing options especially with alternative measures. This would mean that, in appropriate cases, people would go to programs instead of courts. So, this means we need to build programs in our communities for these individuals, to better support them and to reduce harm to individuals going through the system. This approach would also address underlying causes of crime, and likely reduce the incidence of recidivism so increase community well-being and sense of safety.

8) Are there any other issues that you would make a priority?

My priority would be to work collaboratively with people. I believe that many of the answers we need are already here within our people. We have a whole nation of people thinking about our economy, culture, housing, healthcare, development, language, education, environment, and many other areas. We need a more formal mechanism to be able to listen. Another area I would like to advocate for is a land-based youth addictions program. Our Elders say the land heals, and the idea of helping someone earlier in their life with an issue just makes sense. When visiting a youth addictions facility that uses both an institute and the land, their philosophy was that a youth should spend six weeks on the land learning to take care of their basic needs. They believed that once a youth learns how to address their physical needs, they can then apply it to address their addiction. A youth generally spends 14 months in the program before reaching a level of emotional maturity to handle their addiction. With our connection to the land, we could do more to help our youth to heal. Studies have shown that land-based therapy is as much as six times as effective as programs in institutions.

Norman Wapachee

Similar to other First Nation communities, housing has been an outstanding issue in the Cree communities. The increase in housing need has outpaced the number of available social housing and rental units.

Contemporarily, we have various housing programs. We have social housing, rental units/ apartments and some established private home ownership programs. In some cases, we have tried to start a revolving fund loan system that would enable us to build more houses if tenants/ homeowners paid into the program. Unfortunately, unpaid debts leave communities in a deficit. In addition, poor housing conditions of existing homes is issue. Public education and responsibilities on home maintenance must be addressed.

CNG’s private housing initiative is indeed an excellent program for families – families that are ready for private housing. I believe we need to further develop, design and modify the CNG’s housing initiative with the communities. We need to take a bottom-up approach to ensure low-income families are not left out in the cold. They ought to be a priority. We are aware that federal funding is insufficient. We need to find an innovative community-driven approach to build private, social housing and apartments and explore various possible ways to create a revolving fund that is realistic and sustainable.

Homelessness is a reality in Cree communities as well as in the urban centres. We need to seriously consider taking this reality into account when we talk about our housing needs.

In order to address homelessness in our communities, we need to explore programs such as alternative housing, multi-generational housing, tiny homes, or modular housing, one-bedroom apartments to address homelessness in our communities. When shelter is not available, hidden homeless community members also need a shelter to hang out during the days.

Each summer I spend a couple of weeks in Pekuakami (Mashteuiatsh), I have a couple of friends I usually spend time with. I never knew they were homeless. When I found out, I went to spend time with them at a community shelter. The place was clean; a caretaker was present during opening hours; it had a TV room, a small library, a pool table and a large-sized refrigerator. Community/ family members, and friends would bring various types of foods and drinks for the homeless. I felt welcomed… I felt comfortable.

In an urban setting, Cree homelessness is a reality too. We need to consider building partnerships with Native friendship Centers or other Indigenous organization that deal with similar issues.

The pandemic placed us all in a tough situation. I must commend our healthcare providers, frontline workers, staff and volunteers in their efforts to meet the needs of our people.

I found that when the situation escalated, the harder it was for our people, especially the ones who required special medical care outside the Cree territory. The lack of adequate services required them to go into restricted areas, and also required them to isolate for 14 days upon return. We have lost a few members down south due to the pandemic. Our Elders found it extremely difficult when loved ones were unable to visit them. Mental health issues escalated within our communities. It would be worthwhile to do a study on the physical, mental and emotional impacts of the pandemic. Our findings, information/ data would definitely help us revamp our healthcare system and better prepare ourselves for the future.

Resource development is inevitable and so is climate change. With the combination of accumulative impacts of resource development and climate change, we must pay close attention to the potential global environmental impacts and find ways to adapt to climate changes.

The challenge we have ahead of us is to ensure the protection of our lands and resources. Our aim is to protect 50% of Eeyou Istchee from industrial development. We must move towards the creation of additional parks, protected areas and biodiversity reserves. We must ensure that all resource development activities are compatible with the Cree way of life and make sure that there is a balance between development and environment. I believe the CNG initiated a Land Keepers program that is designed to monitor activities, climate change and wildlife. In addition, it is important that the CNG, Cree Trappers’ Association and communities continue working together on a wildlife management program(s) to protect moose, caribou and various species of marine life.

5) How would you deal with the issue of food security, and ensuring that people have access to good quality food?

The land has always been the number one provider of our basic human needs. It offers an abundance of wildlife, marine life and waterfowls as a source of healthy traditional foods. Active Cree hunters/ gatherers and land users have continuously accessed traditional foods to provide for themselves, families and Elders. I believe there is a need to initiate innovative community-based programs that allows active and knowledgeable Cree hunters/ gatherers bring young people out on the land to harvest, maintain and prepare nutritious traditional foods; and make them accessible to community members that depend on it.

Agriculture is another great way of making sure good quality food is available to the Cree. As part of a self-reliance initiative in OBCN’s early years, we had a plan to go into agriculture. At the time, we had talked about conducting a study to see if farming would work in our region. We never actually realized the project. However, the project still comes up at our community planning sessions. Currently, we are slowly moving towards a greenhouse project in Ouje-Bougoumou.

To ensure Cree good quality food is always made available in Cree communities, we must make sure our transportation of goods/ foods into our regions is not significantly interrupted or discontinued due to a pandemic or something.

First of all, transmission of Cree language, culture and values need to start at home. Unfortunately, I find it very difficult to carry out this responsibility effectively especially when one resides in the community.

Nevertheless, we, as Cree parents, need to bring our little ones to our permanent/ seasonal bush camps and have them participate in our daily traditional activities. Their love for the land, customs and traditions will increasingly develop over the years as well as their sense of identity. We must remember our children learn through observation – the natural process of individual development.

Our current educational system can help but it has its limitations. Our place of learning (schools) is located in our communities; and our Cree culture/ language classes are not taught out on the land. We are disconnected from our traditional way of life. Our modern lifestyle has significantly changed. I recall a time when our Cree culture teacher, Elder, Alfred Coon Come, took us out on the land for a whole week. We left Mistissini on snowshoes, pulled our toboggans/ gear, setup camp, cut firewood, place boughs in our camp, snare rabbits, prepare moose meat stew and bannock. It was a great and a memorable experience. Land-based traditional programs are essential in the protection, preservation and promotion of Cree culture and language.

7) Are there any concerns you want to address with policing, or ways you envision changing or enhancing policing in the Cree communities?

Recruitment of Cree workforce in policing and correctional services is an ongoing issue. If the desire to increase the Cree workforce in both sectors is there, I believe we need to come together: find core issues and innovative ways to attract, engage and retain a committed Cree workforce in the Eeyou/ Eenou Police Force.

8) Are there any other issues that you would make a priority?

The health and wellbeing of Eeyou/ Eenou life is my priority. This includes physical, mental and spiritual well-being of Eeyou/ Eenou; land, housing and the protection/ preservation of Cree language/ culture.

Nation

Grand Chief & Deputy Grand Chief candidates: Election Special 2021

Abel Bosum

Mandy Gull

DEPUTY GRAND CHIEF CANDIDATES

Ashley Iserhoff

Donald Nicholls

Norman Wapachee

Recommended Stories