TREATY NO. 5 – Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s Chiefs Committee on Children Youth and Families will join with counterparts from northern Indigenous communities across Canada to celebrate the creation of a collective voice – the National Assembly of Remote Communities.
In the first-ever meeting of the National Assembly of Remote Communities, the event will be co-hosted by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, First Vice Chief David Pratt and Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Deputy Grand Chief Bobby Narcisse.
“Canada has failed our youth and families for decades, but I am encouraged that we now have a healing path forward. The launch of the National Assembly of Remote Communities is an important step on our journey of long-term reform that will be First Nations-led, as Treaty and Indigenous rights holders, and based on our inherent authority to care for our children,” said NAN Deputy Grand Chief Bobby Narcisse. “I look forward to taking this historic step with our brothers and sisters from many Nations.”
The Assembly will centre on three major themes:
- The Journeys of Remote Communities: Their realities and lived experiences.
- The Science of Measuring Remoteness: We cannot manage what we do not measure.
- Community Vulnerabilities Respecting Settlement Payouts: A study and discussion of best practices and safeguards.
Discussions will include first-hand accounts of the lived experience of living in remote communities directly from community leadership, knowledge-keepers, and Elders, and the challenges and barriers faced in remote communities.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation represents 49 First Nation communities in James Bay Treaty No. 9 and Ontario portions of Treaty No. 5 – an area covering two-thirds of the province of Ontario in Canada.
Formed in 2021 through the Global Resolution Negotiations, The National Assembly of Remote Communities brings together a united voice on issues impacting remote Indigenous communities and has united under an assembly of common interest to create a unified voice on issues of unique concern to remote Indigenous communities at the national level.
Their mandate is to ensure accountability and advocacy concerning settlements of outstanding claims against the Government of Canada in the context of child welfare, health, education, and community safety.
Charter members include Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, and the Alberta and Northwest Territories regions of the Assembly of First Nations.
The Assembly will be held at TCU Place Conference Centre, 35-22nd Street East, Saskatoon, SK
