Young Cree activist and columnist Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash plans to wear the colors of Québec Solidaire in the October 3 elections in Ungava.
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She must first assert herself in the constituency, but there is currently no other candidate in the running.
“I can understand that in the National Assembly it is easy to make decisions when those concerned are not in the room. I, if I’m going to be there, I encourage those people who say monstrosities to my people to do so by looking me in the eye,” Labrecque-Saganash said during a press conference at the PHI center with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Manon Masse.
Invoice 96
In fact, Ms. Labrecque-Saganash has opposed the Québec Solidaire-backed Bill 101 reform from the outset. Indigenous nations had denounced Bill 96 and asked to be exempted from it.
“Personally, I wouldn’t have supported it,” she replied to reporters’ questions. She says she shares the concerns of the First Nations Quebec-Labrador congregation on the issue.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, TOMA ICZKOVITS
The new law will “make it harder for our communities to navigate Quebec’s public services,” she believes.
QS Parliamentary Chair Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said Ms Labrecque-Saganash was free to oppose the bill despite the support of her group. “Never would I have allowed myself to tell an elected First Nations how to vote on a bill that affected their historical and fundamental claims,” he says.
PHOTO QMI AGENCY, TOMA ICZKOVITS
Several indigenous candidates
Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash, daughter of former Confederate MP Roméo Saganash, has been close to Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois for many years. She notably worked with him during the Faut qu’on se parle Tour.
Five other Indigenous candidates are already in the running for QS and the party says it is taking steps to win more.
The National Assembly already includes First Nations men, including Alexis Wawanoloath. According to Québec solidaire, however, if elected, Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash would become the first Indigenous woman to sit in Quebec.
But surprisingly, Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime contacted Le Journal to point out that his deputy leader, Claire Samson, “is also half-Indigenous, although she has never claimed that status.” “His mother was an Iroquois from Kahnawake,” he explains.
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