Federal Election: Wesley-Esquimaux runs for the Liberals for the third time in Simcoe North

By Rick Garrick

SIMCOE NORTH RIDING — Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation’s Cynthia Wesley-Esquimaux is running in her third federal election as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada, including her first campaign in the Simcoe North riding.

“I’m running because I believe it is important to stand up for democracy and do our best to bring our voice to the table, especially the Indigenous voice, but also people that are living in more remote and rural locations,” says Wesley-Esquimaux, chair on Truth and Reconciliation at Lakehead University, noting that she lives and works in Orillia but also has a home in Georgina Island. “I’ve been involved with the Liberal Party since I was young — their values align most closely to my values about humanity, taking care of the vulnerable, being of service, ensuring that people have the kinds of services they need. The Liberal Party has a whole of government approach. All of the ministries have mandate letters which instruct them to take into consideration the Indigenous community, whether it is about water, housing, education, justice. The Liberal Party has been very good over the course of time; there’s been years of course where we have not been on their agenda but this party has said yes and I think we need to take advantage of that.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says her campaign has been going “very well,” noting that she has an experienced campaign manager, a finance officer, volunteers, and campaign offices in Midland and Orillia.

“We had some issues around signs [with] people putting swastikas on my signs but apparently I’m not the only one that’s been struggling with this,” Wesley-Esquimaux says.

Wesley-Esquimaux says reconciliation is one of the important issues for her during the election, noting her current roles as chair on Truth and Reconciliation at Lakehead University and chair at Teach for Canada, which sends certified teachers into remote communities, and her previous role as chair for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

“So I have some interests that I think are important to the Liberal Party and should be taken to the table in Ottawa,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “But I’m also very concerned about the increase in [costs for] housing, the lack of rental properties, we have students trying to find places to live while they go to school, and the [COVID-19] pandemic has been an issue– the whole question of vaccines and vaccine resistance.”

Wesley-Esquimaux adds that she is also concerned about water, including water issues in First Nations and the possibility of water wars due to the changing climate.

“We have lots of extreme weather events so clearly environment and climate change is an issue that needs to be addressed and I’d like to push the question of sustainability, how we get our food and how we actually create food security,” Wesley-Esquimaux says.

Wesley-Esquimaux says the Liberal Party is putting $9 billion over five years towards seniors.

“I think a lot of people were very struck by the fact that we don’t do enough to protect the interests of our seniors,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “And of course, I’m very interested in child welfare and the need for affordable child care. I have a granddaughter who is one year old and my daughter is looking at a very huge cost to ensure she has the proper care while she goes back to work.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says she is very familiar with Indigenous issues and history, noting that she does 60-70 public sharing events across the country as part of her role as chair on Truth and Reconciliation at Lakehead University.

“I’m actually always pushing for the restoration of jurisdiction and authority for First Nations communities, recognition of Métis interests and of course, Inuit are also included in that conversation,” Wesley-Esquimaux says.

Wesley-Esquimaux says First Nation Impact Benefit Agreements should be respected.

“We are not going to get to the place of restoration of jurisdiction authority if the government chooses not to honour those agreements and ensure they continue to make them,” Wesley-Esquimaux says.

Wesley-Esquimaux says her roles as chair on Truth and Reconciliation at Lakehead University and as an honourary witness are to ensure the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action are not only implemented but carried forward into virtually everything the government does.

“On the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, I was the facilitator for more than half of the discussions across Canada in the pre-inquiry process,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “So I have had the privilege of actually listening to people from coast-to-coast-to-coast speak to the issues on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and am supportive of the Inquiry and the recommendations being carried forward and actually put in place. I think public education is a very big part of that conversation and I will push to ensure that it happens.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says she has been in contact with Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Carolyn Bennett on a regular basis for many years, including about equality and self-determination.

“I’m very well aware of what the government is trying to achieve in terms of the restoration [of jurisdiction] and putting in place laws on child welfare and putting in place laws on education and every other area,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “One of the things I would have as one of my goals is to ensure the spotlight and the time and attention is continued to be paid to those very issues.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says she has been working on the spirit and intent of the treaties for more than 30 years.

“I’ve sat at many treaty tables, I teach about the treaties from pre-Confederation, the early Peace and Friendship Treaties, the numbered treaties and now the modern expression of treaties that are happening in B.C.,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “I’m a very strong advocate for representation of the treaties and ensuring the articles of the treaties are upheld and put in place.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says the Indian Act is an “antiquated piece of legislation.”

“It is a link between the federal government in its obligations and responsibilities and our communities but we really do need to come up with a more appropriate alternative, and maybe that is the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, maybe it is something else,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “I think that has to be a full consultation and a very full agreement session between the First Nation communities and the federal government — the federal government cannot do this on their own, we have to be very much a part of it.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says she supports the right to self-government and the proposed Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement, noting that her community has accepted and supports the proposed Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement.

“I believe that we have a right to full restoration of jurisdiction and authority over our lands, not only the little postage stamps called reserves but the entire traditional territories that were occupied and utilized to sustain our people,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “And even if there’s non-Indigenous people living on those lands, it doesn’t mean we’re going to remove them, it just means we have to have a full say in what happens to those lands, what gets put on those lands and how they’re developed into the future.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says the Liberal government initially allocated $31 million towards the work happening on the unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools across Canada and has since allocated more funds to enable the work to continue.

“The other piece of that is it needs to not be in the hands of the federal government, it needs to be in the hands of the people that actually attended those schools,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “They need to be able to hire the people they feel are most appropriate for the work and our own people need to be trained to do that work so they are on-site, so it’s not happening over there, it’s actually happening with the community engagement and involvement.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says that the restoration of jurisdiction and authority over children, education, housing, justice will mean healthier communities in the future.

“The procurement strategy needs to be changed, and [the Liberal government has] added monies into the procurement strategy so more of the work that can go into communities actually can be done by Indigenous people,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “We need to create capacity at the community level so that people can stand up — it’s the education pieces that are extremely important and not only education in the Western systems but building our own education systems where language, culture and knowledge bases are actually coming out of the community and restoring that pride and the dignity and the ability of people to move forward in a good way.”

Wesley-Esquimaux says it is important for the federal government to look at the creation of education authorities in First Nations so students are learning what they need to learn so they can pursue post-secondary education opportunities.

“We have to adjust the entire education system to meet the needs of today’s child, not yesterday’s child,” Wesley-Esquimaux says. “We need to change the system to accommodate outside learning, for instance, on-the-land learning, language that is their own language not just necessarily French and English. There is a complete adjustment that has to be made that accommodates the needs of First Nations communities, Inuit communities and Métis communities that is very different from the Western model, so that means providing the resources for First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities to develop their own curriculum. We need to do that for as long as it takes so kids can again get back their dignity and their interests and their ambitions and be inspired to actually learn so they can carry forward in their own communities and they can do the work that is necessary in the communities. They need to be able to be inspired to achieve that education so they can contribute something to their own Nations.”

The federal election takes place on September 20, 2021. For additional information on the election, please visit Elections Canada.

The Anishinabek News is profiling Anishinabek Nation First Nation candidates who are running in the Federal Election on September 20, 2021. The Anishinabek Nation (Union of Ontario Indians) is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse any political party or candidate.