DRYDEN – Youth from across Treaty 3 territory selected new members of a Youth Executive Council last month at the Naotkamegwanning Roundhouse in Whitefish Bay, and Jessica Lee is pleased to be among the selected.
“I’m very excited,” Lee said this week. “Just being a part of Grand Council Treaty 3 is a huge thing.”
Grand Council Treaty #3’s Youth Executive Council acts as a voice of Treaty 3 youth, bringing young people’s perspectives to the governance process while council members benefit by gaining knowledge on key issues, traditional governance and cultural practices.
Lee, 28, said one topic she will be following closely while on the council is compensation for those hurt by federal underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services.
The Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society reached a $23-billion settlement with Ottawa to see the feds compensate First Nations children and their families across Canada. The settlement was approved by a Federal Court judge last month.
Lee said she will be watching the compensation process closely because “I grew up in care, a lot of my family and friends like have grown up in care and they were affected by that.”
Access to mental health services on reserves, where there are long wait lists for such services, is another important issue, she said.
“It’s kind of personal to me because I’ve had many friends be in situations or just being in communities that don’t have the resources they need.”
Lee lived in Thunder Bay for several years and attended Lakehead University before moving to Dryden last year to be closer to her home community of Eagle Lake First Nation.
She recently participated in Eagle Lake governance as a voter.
“Bernadette Wabange just got elected and that was awesome. It was nice to see that,” Lee said.
“And that was actually my first time voting for a chief for my community.”
Youth council members are elected for four-year terms, but Lee’s time on council will be shorter as she will reach its age ceiling of 30 in less than two years.
“Once I age out, I’ll step down and become a proxy member and mentor and guide the next person who’s elected,” she said.
Because her term is so short, she said, “I intend to be very proactive with my time.”
She was one of four primary representatives chosen at the traditional selection gathering held on Oct. 14. Four alternates were also selected.
