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Annual Action Canada Lecture on Reconciliation and Public Policy 2022 – Stacie Smith and Kyla Kakfwi-Scott

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Released:6 October 2022

How are women leading and shaping reconciliation efforts in the North? Yellowknife City Councillor Stacie Smith and Government of Northwest Territories Assistant Deputy Minister Kyla Kakfwi-Scott gave answers to these questions and those of Action Canada Executive Director Sara-Christine Gemson and the assembled Action Canada Fellows, led by Deanna Matthews ’22, during the recent study tour to the Northwest Territories.

This was the second Annual Action Canada Lecture on Reconciliation and Public Policy, organized to honour the legacy of Sarah Robinson, a Fellow in 2014/15, who made it her mission to spark dialogue among policy makers about Indigenous history, reconciliation and action.

Featured Fellows

    Gemson, Sara-Christine

    2015/2016

    In 2012-13, Sara-Christine was an Aga Khan journalism fellow in Kenya, where she wrote for the Daily Nation, the most read newspaper in the country. She also contributed to the Globe and Mail, CBC, Radio-Canada, The Hamilton Spectator, and Monocle Radio on topics ranging from the Kenyan elections to food waste.

    Sara-Christine completed a B.A. in Philosophy and Communications at the University of Ottawa. She also completed an M.Phil in Comparative Government at Oxford University. Between degrees, Sara-Christine taught English for two years in Japan, working in high schools for athletes, students with academic challenges, and students with severe mental and physical disabilities. Sara-Christine is a proud Franco-Ontarian from Mississauga.

    Deanna Matthews

    2022/23

    As Anishininewak mixed settler, Deanna is a member of Sachigo Lake First Nation in northern Ontario and grew up exploring the Rockies from Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton, AB). Deanna is the President at Gakino’amaage: Teach For Canada, a non-profit that recruits, prepares, supports, and sustains teachers in 32+ First Nations communities in northern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario.

     

    Her passion for equitable education and social policy stems from her work running Mikinakoos (Little Turtle) Children’s Fund in coordination with the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority.

    Prior to joining Teach For Canada, Deanna worked as a Policy Analyst in the Privy Council Office, providing briefings for the Prime Minister and senior government officials on key Indigenous priorities. Key priorities included support of the permanent bilateral mechanisms established between the Government of Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation leaders from across the country, as well as the examination of relevant federal laws, policies, and operational practices related to Aboriginal and treaty rights, international human rights standards, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.Deanna has also worked within Health Canada’s Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program. Often having her feet ‘in two different canoes’ – one eager to advance Indigenous policy in Canada, and another striving to center Indigenous methodologies and experiences in research and practice – Deanna brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her work.

    Deanna received her Bachelor of Education with distinction from Western University, and is concurrently a SSHRC Doctoral Scholar, studying First Nations education governance. She is also undertaking a Master of Public Health in Indigenous Health at the University of Toronto. Deanna is a 2022-23 Action Canada Fellow.

    Sarah Robinson

    2014/2015

    Sarah Robinson is a 2014 Action Canada Fellow, and a proud citizen of the Fort Nelson First Nation and the Saulteau First Nation in northern BC’s Treaty 8 territory. She is married into the Toquaht Nation and lives in their small community of Macoah on the west-coast of Vancouver Island, and is a proud stepmom and auntie.

    Sarah founded Rainwatch Consulting in 2015, and as Principal provides support to First Nations and various organizations across Canada. Prior to that, she worked as the Director of Operations at the Toquaht Nation and was responsible for implementing its modern-day governance structure under the Maa-nulth Treaty. Prior to that, she facilitated negotiations at over 20 treaty tables across BC.

    Sarah is an appointed member of the BC Minister’s Advisory Council on Indigenous Women, which advises government on improving Indigenous women’s quality of life. In 2017, she spoke about “Indigenous Women and the Story of Canada” at the #WalrusTalks National Tour kick-off event in the Yukon. She is also studying law at the University of Victoria. Find her on Twitter @sarahc_robinson or at www.rainwatch.ca.