Newly Elected Chief Tabatha Bernard of Lennox Island First Nation attended the summit with the Prime Minister and First Nations rights holders on the implementation of Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act in Ottawa yesterday.
This was her first major meeting as Chief, she attended the meeting with Indigenous leaders from across the country. “For the Lennox Island First Nation and all Mi’kmaw rights holders in PEI I felt it was very important that I be there. As a Mi’kmaw leader I need to protect our rights but I also need to be there to make sure we understand the process to create economic opportunities with the implementation of this Act,” said Chief Tabatha.
During the Summit, those in attendance received technical briefings and participated in working sessions with the Prime Minister, Ministers and senior officials.
“I was very honoured that my question was selected for the session with the Prime Minister and very pleased with his response,” said the Chief. Her question raised the concern that smaller communities may not have the capacity to get their “elbows up” at the table and truly benefit in the end with the promised partnership opportunities, particularly when projects are being fast-tracked.
In meetings with Government Officials, Chief Tabatha also advocated for major projects being led by Lennox Island First Nation – two Wind Farms and a large Solar Farm – that are suitable for the Eastern Energy Partnership.
“I recommended that First Nations must be required to be partners or beneficiaries by default in projects in their territory and I was pleased to hear the Prime Minister recognizes the challenge and that he is committed to working on that issue.”
