Scottie Wemigwans inducted as first Indigenous trustee on the Lakehead Public Schools board

By Rick Garrick

FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION — Fort William’s Scottie Wemigwans was recently inducted as Lakehead Public Schools’ (LPS) new Indigenous trustee after a nomination and election process in the community on July 20.

“I’m the first Indigenous trustee on the Lakehead Public Schools board,” says Wemigwans, area financial controller with Days Inn Thunder Bay. “It actually happened really fast — Fort William First Nation posted that they were looking for a representative for all First Nations in the Lakehead Public Schools board, they had an application process where people nominated me and then they had an election a week later.”

Wemigwans, who lives off-reserve in Murillo, located near Thunder Bay, and has two children attending an LPS school, says this was the first time he ran for a board position.

“I’m really proud that my community members thought I would do a good job,” Wemigwans says. “I have two children that are currently in the Lakehead Public Schools board over at Crestview [Public School] in Murillo — children are very important to our future and if I can provide my expertise to help shape that, especially in this time, I think it is the least I can do to help out.”

Wemigwans says he received a positive response from the community about his new role.

“The people that voted and elected me in have been messaging me a lot on Facebook, giving me a lot of support and asking me a lot of questions about what is happening in the schools right now,” Wemigwans says. “And they’re also extremely excited to have a voice at the Lakehead Public Schools board level — they’ve had a representative at the [Thunder Bay] Catholic District School Board for some time so I think everyone is quite excited that we have one at the [Lakehead] Public Schools board level.”

Wemigwans says he received a “welcoming” response from the LPS board members.

“It’s a great group of people at the school board right now — I’ve already had a few of them reach out to me to welcome me,” Wemigwans says. “It’s a little bit tough coming in half the way through the term — the trustees sit as a four-year term. Since this position was created half the way through the term, I’m kind of jumping in with both feet as all the other trustees have been going for two years so it’s been a quick learning process.”

Wemigwans says he has since attended about 10-11 LPS virtual board meetings regarding the start-up of school during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Especially for young children, starting school for the first time is always a little intimidating and scary and with what’s going on right now it just adds another level to it,” Wemigwans says. “So we’re trying to make it as smooth and less scary as possible.”

Fort William First Nation Chief Peter Collins says his community had been lobbying for a few years to have an Indigenous trustee at LPS.

“It’s important to have our voice there because our kids are in the system there and we needed a voice at that table,” Collins says. “He just doesn’t represent Fort William — he’s going to represent all First Nations children that are attending the public schools; it doesn’t matter what community they come from. So he’s got a lot of work ahead of him and a lot of planning that goes along with it to make sure the representation is well heard at the [Lakehead] Public Schools board.”

LPS inducted its first Indigenous student trustee, Keira Essex, in December 2019.