I was nominated for the position of Deputy Grand Chief in Mistissini for this term’s election. I decided to accept and run for this position seriously.
I have done so because I care about what has happened to the Cree people. I have spoken out on many issues, as I feel every individual must. But there must be a point at which you are willing to start a process to deal with the issues. I feel I have provided information that in my personal knowledge and opinion was the truth. This was part of the process I felt, but wasn’t enough.
It was brought home to me one day when I was talking to Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come who said it was easy to talk or write about things that the Grand Council or Chiefs were doing but I should try the other side for a change.
I did not take this as an endorsement of candidacy, but rather telling me to put myself in the hotspot, so to speak.
I think most of what I believe in has already been in The Nation as an editorial or two. (During the election, I will not be writing any more editorials as it may be seen as unfair.)
I believe in taking a harder line with Quebec when they try to step on Cree rights. I want the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement to be respected and fully implemented. These are things that I am sure any candidate supports.
I also want to make the Grand Council more open to the people. In order to do this I would try to make sure there is a Grand Council presence at every local annual general assembly in the communities in order to answer questions and give information.
In short I want a more open Grand Council/Cree Regional Authority. One that would listen to all Crees regardless of age or sex, and one that would
be seen as being totally accountable to the people.
Election reform would be part of my agenda. Two weeks is not long enough to have an election platform that every Cree would know. As it stands, I feel the elections are more of a popularity contest than anything else. I would want a longer period so people can get to know the candidates and their concerns and issues.
I would say no to any more intrusions by Hydro-Quebec until all past agreements are fulfilled and implemented. Only then would we even conceive of considering anything else.
I think there should be a program in place where we utilize studies such as the human resource study. It looked at needs of the Crees in human resources for the present and future. These should be sent to the schools to help students determine their futures. It is no use having people studying for non-existent positions.
We have to also make use of students coming back. There are many, but they aren’t getting into the Cree workforce as fast as they should. We need to develop policies and initiatives for them.
Youth who need skills should have a way to attain them. In the United States there is a program called Youth Build. It takes youth and teaches them how to build houses. This is done through a number of U.S. government-funded programs. This deals with two problems at once, housing and life-skills training. We need to start looking at these types of models to help our communities grow and prosper.
This in short is part of why I decided to run for the position of Deputy Grand Chief. I offer my best wishes in advance for all candidates running for Grand Chief and Deputy Grand Chief.
