Wiikwemkoong teen participates in Daughter of the Vote program
By Sam Laskaris
OTTAWA— A teen from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory was among those that took part in the Daughters of the Vote program this past week in Ottawa.
Aurora Ominika-Enosse participated in the program run by Equal Voice, an organization that advocates for equal representation of women in politics at various levels in Canada.
A total of 338 young women, one representative from each of the 338 federal ridings, ranging in age from 18-23, participated in the Daughter of the Vote events held Apr. 1-4.
Program delegates participated in various events that took place in the Parliament of Canada.
Ominika-Enosse, a 19-year-old who is a first-year student in the social work program at Ottawa’s Carleton University, was the representative for the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing riding.
Ominika-Enosse had submitted an application to be part of the program last October. She is uncertain how many others from her riding applied.
“There were over 1,000 people that applied for the 338 spots,” she said.
Ominika-Enosse was notified in February that she would be one of the delegates.
“I was pretty surprised I got it,” she said. “But I had been hoping that I would be chosen.”
This marked the second time the Daughters of the Vote program had been staged. The first time was in 2017.
Plans are to run it again in 2021.
Ominika-Enosse would be eligible to apply again, but she is not sure that she would be one of the preferred candidates then.
“They do want a lot of other females to experience the program as well,” she said.
Ominika-Enosse said the four-day program resulted in a pair of highlights for herself. For starters, she was among a group of delegates who made national headlines for turning their backs to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau while he spoke.
Ominika-Enosse said she joined this silent protest, as she believes Trudeau is not doing enough for Indigenous women across the country.
Ominika-Enosse, who had served as Miss Wiikwemkoong from 2017-18, is a passionate advocate for Indigenous rights, including children in the foster care system. She is also a strong believer more action is required for missing and murdered Indigenous females.
Ominika-Enosse said a number of Indigenous delegates at the Daughters of the Vote had a meeting the night before to discuss their silent protest.
“We had some allies that stood up with us,” she said. “From what I’ve heard, there were approximately 25-40 delegates that turned their backs.”
Ominika-Enosse said she received some online backlash over her participation in this protest against the Prime Minister. She admits some of the comments directed her way initially bothered her but then she managed to brush them off.
“At first it did [bother me],” she said. “But I don’t know these people and they don’t know me.”
Ominika-Enosse added various media outlets did not fully portray the activities during the day of the silent protest. Many outlets focused on the silent protest and how delegates turned their backs while Trudeau spoke.
“A lot of people were saying we should have engaged in conversation,” she said. “The delegates did ask questions. I had my hand raised but I didn’t get chosen.”
Ominika-Enosse had her question ready for Trudeau had she been called upon.
“I was going to ask him if my life valued to him,” she said. “And if he said it did I was going to say he had an awful way of showing that it did.”
The second highlight for Ominika-Enosse during the Daughters of the Vote occurred when she was able to make a 60-second statement in the House of Commons. She discussed the unfair treatment she believes Indigenous women in the country receive.
“I’m pretty proud of everything that happened during the week,” Ominika-Enosse said. “We were able to be seen. It sparked a conversation, and I feel that’s more important. Because of that I don’t have any regrets.”