By Michael Lynch
Northwestern Ontario municipal leaders and the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) need to build a “political interface,” says Goyce Kakegamic, deputy grand chief.
Kakegamic was invited to speak at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association’s (NOMA) annual meeting on April 26 in Thunder Bay. He shared his thoughts on the importance of developing co-operation between NAN and NOMA. He suggested discussing the merits of a protocol between the two organizations to recognize and address mutual goals and aspirations.
“This protocol must seek a commitment among ourselves to create a process for co-operation and to identify issues.
“It should include political, economic and social priorities,” Kakegamic said.
Kakegamic mentioned the co-operation of northwestern leaders with NAN over the push for an equal status medical school campus at Lakehead University, equivalent to that which is planned for Laurentian University in Sudbury.
Kakegamic also spoke of the dismal economic, health and social conditions that have had “devastating impacts” on Aboriginal peoples and the Canadian public as a whole.
“I believe strongly that the economic and social future of northwestern Ontario for all residents – Native and non-Native – will be greatly enhanced if there is mutual respect, combined with political co-operation between First Nation governments and their municipal, provincial and federal counterparts.”
