Thunder Bay welcomes new manager of Indigenous Relations and Inclusion

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY—Wiikwemkoong’s Regina Mandamin, a daughter of the late Water Walker Josephine Mandamin, was recently introduced as the City of Thunder Bay’s new manager of Indigenous Relations and Inclusion.

“I was born and raised here and I had a very good childhood and lived experience here with the City of Thunder Bay,” Mandamin says. “What brought me back was a sense of public service in what can I bring back to the community based on what I’ve learned in different places where I’ve lived — in Ottawa and Toronto — and bringing some of those learnings and promising practices back to the city.”

Mandamin says Thunder Bay is still home for her.

“My father is still here and nieces and nephews,” Mandamin says. “And I just miss the lifestyle and really just getting my feet wet again in the outdoors and also getting my feet wet in municipal public service and doing some good work here.”

Mandamin says the amount of interaction on a daily basis between citizens is what distinguishes Thunder Bay from other cities.

“We are interacting daily with our fellow citizens and that is where we have an opportunity,” Mandamin says. “The integration here is a lot stronger, and me being an Indigenous person having that lived experience, I hope that I can bring something fresh and new to the table based on my federal and provincial public service experience and working with First Nations public service.”

Mandamin previously served as senior policy advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Indigenous Health Policy Unit in Toronto and as senior research advisor with the Chiefs of Ontario. She also served as policy analyst with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s Industrial Relations Advisory Service in the National Capital Region. She attended law school at the University of Ottawa and has a BA in Canadian Studies from Carleton University.

Mandamin will manage the city’s Aboriginal Liaison Unit under her new position, which has a leadership component.

“Dedicating a position in this type of leadership role will position us best to be able to perform on a daily basis and also start working with key partners within the city,” Mandamin says. “We’ve been doing a good job, but I think it’s laid a foundation for us to do even better and have more sustainable progress. Looking within the city corporation, are we housing barriers inadvertently, are there things we can improve to make the way we carry out our policies more inclusive and more inviting for a more diverse and Indigenous population.”

The manager of Indigenous Relations and Inclusion position was a key, first-year goal for the City of Thunder Bay after it signed the Thunder Bay Anti-Racism and Inclusion Accord in 2018. The Accord brings organizations and businesses together to work collaboratively in addressing racism in Thunder Bay.

“The Aboriginal Liaison Office started about 10 years ago and has done some terrific work,” says Norm Gale, city manager with the City of Thunder Bay. “What Miss Mandamin will do is make us move further and add to the sense of importance and change the strategy as the external environment changes and we learn more. Part of the arrangement we have here is that Miss Mandamin and I and city council will work together to see what the path forward is. It’s not so much me imposing down into our corporation changes that need to be made, Miss Mandamin is part of that, advising me and letting me know and letting council know these are some things you need to do and giving us advice, teaching us and moving forward from there.”