Alumni Highlight: Andrea Brazeau-- Future Leader Advocating for Change

Meet the Indigenous youth in Quebec who are standing up to support their communities

Marilla Steuter-Martin · CBC News

These future leaders are advocating for change to address issues they see affecting Indigenous people

For Andrea Brazeau, a recent McGill Faculty of Education graduate who is now teaching elementary school in her home community of Kangiqsualujjuaq in Nunavik, Quebec's failure to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday is disappointing.

"It's a celebration of those Indigenous people still here, Indigenous Peoples that [they] tried to erase but are still here. Yet this province I'm living in decided not to recognize any of that. And to me, that's one step back from reconciliation."

Brazeau, who is Inuk, made headlines last year after she wrote a letter to Premier François Legault decrying the lack of high-speed internet available up north. "The pandemic has brought to the surface the need for internet in the north," Brazeau said.

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Brazeau says that being an advocate for people in her small Inuit community, many of whom have never travelled south, is a key part of the future she envisions for herself. "Eventually I see myself going into positions of leadership where I can use my voice and amplify the voices of others," she said.

On the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Brazeau says she will be thinking "about those children that never made it home. It's really hard to put into words how horrific it all is." She hopes that the day will also spur reflection from non-Indigenous people and boost the calls for change.

"I hope non-Indigenous people take the day to reflect. Reflect where you are, whose land you're on and what you can do toward reconciliation. Because we need to bridge that gap between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people," she said. "Indigenous Peoples across Canada, we are tired and we need help. We don't need saving, but we need allies to help us bridge that gap."

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