Jolene Van Wieringen highlights Métis issues and plans at Fort St. John event

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) Regional 7 director candidate Jolene Van Wieringen logged a lot of kilometres in travel during this past weekend.

This weekend, she spent time in Pouce Coupe, attending the North East Métis Family Gathering, and Hudson’s Hope, where the River of the Peace Métis Society hosted an event at the Pearkes Centre.

On August 19th, she took centre stage at Roger’s Trucking in Fort St. John, speaking with members of MNBC within the local community.  

With the sash representing her people firmly placed across her shoulder, she spoke of community engagement in establishing a brighter future for the community.

Most importantly, she cited her experience in social work and  in School District 60 as the Indigenous Social Emotional and Learning Specialist, and participating in community life promotion and mental health projects as part of MNBC’s Kaa-wiichitoyaahk project has prepared her for a new role.

“That work has been really incredibly dear to my heart,” said Van Wieringen in her address. “We live in an area where there are very limited resources and access to support.”

“[It] involves training our community how to be a support for each other, and so I think that’s very valuable in a community that has limited resources. I’ve had to temporarily step back from it, because I believe that it’s important for me to make a difference on a greater scale right now.”

Throughout the 90 minute event, Van Wieringen spoke with attendees about various topics, including what she sees as a lack of engagement with the youth of MNBC.

In fact, there have been consecutive terms where a youth representative has not been elected within the region, due to a lack of interest.

“This is alarming,” said Van Wieringen. “It signifies a significant gap within our leadership structure. But there are vacancies in other regions as well. Where are our youth? Their disengagement is concerning because they represent the future of our communities.”

She also says section 35, the federal act that recognizes the rights of Indigenous peoples, is not being recognized provincially for the Métis and will support “collaborative efforts” to ensure this change if elected.

Specifically, Van Wieringen cited recent changes to Bill 40 of the School Act, which fails to cite Métis among Indigenous communities. Working within School District 60, she says the district however is inclusive to Métis people.

The province has also said in a primer published last December the Métis have no established cultural history in the province, and thus “there are no existing land, water, or air-based Métis rights or associated inherent jurisdiction in British Columbia that trigger the same Crown rights,” as other Indigenous people.

“We need to be raising more awareness about who we are,” said Van Wieringen. “I believe that we should also be strongly advocating for our voices on the Indigenous education councils. There’s lots of things that we could do to advocate for our section 35 rights.”

Van Wieringen says she hopes to also connect with the Fort Nelson community, who currently do not have an MNBC chartered Métis community within the municipality, saying it is a “goal” to establish one.

Van Wieringen’s opponent for the regional 7 director’s chair will be incumbent Paulette Flamond, who will be on hand for an open house celebrating the opening of a new facility for the Fort St. John Métis Society on August 21st. 

Flamond was contacted by energeticcity.ca for a future story focusing on her term as director and bid for re-election.

Provincial elections for MNBC, which will include the vote for region 7 director, will be held on September 7th, with online voting beginning on August 24th.