Alison Linklater says Mushkegowuk Council needs to be driven by the communities, their initiatives and goals.
Linklater is one of the four candidates vying to be the Mushkegowuk Council grand chief. The byelection is Feb. 25.
A Taykwa Tagamou Nation member, Linklater currently works on special projects for the Matawa Health Co-Operative.
Linklater earned a nursing degree from Lakehead University and worked as the floor nurse specializing in labour and delivery at the Weeneebayko General Hospital before doing management work there.
She also did air ambulance in Manitoba, worked in diabetes education, as a travel nurse and as a health policy advisor at Mushkegowuk Council.
Linklater’s experience includes working on the proposals for the Fire Keeper Patrol program and to establish Sweetgrass Health Centre in Cochrane. She also worked with the community health directors on securing extra funding to hire additional public health nurses for the communities.
She decided to run in the byelection after seeing the need to “really engage” communities and change the way the initiatives move forward.
She says she wants her work to be community-driven as she’s been hearing from people that they don’t know or understand what Mushkegowuk does.
Linklater says she’d like to spend more time in the communities and work with people to see what they want from the organization.
“There are a lot of opportunities coming and a lot of things that are changing within our region with different aspects like economic development, mental health, housing, just to name a few,” she says. “Because it was never really done in that kind of way, to really plan with the community as to what kind of supports they need from Mushkegowuk.”
Linklater says people want to be heard, to be a part of the decision-making process and to help guide the organization moving forward.
If elected, Linklater says she would focus on the pressing issues first and then start meeting with the communities and laying the groundwork for changing the way Mushkegowuk runs.
She would also look at addressing mental health issues and the opioid epidemic and the inequality that First Nations people face.
“We need to look at developing the regional system but also to support the communities in strengthening their mental health programming, look at land-based detox, see how we can support each community in having their own land-based detox programs,” she says.
The regional system would be to support the communities, not to manage them, Linklater says.
She says she would also ensure on- and off-reserve community members have a say.
“With the direction I would go towards, it changes the way Mushkegowuk runs. It trickles down from Mushkegowuk to communities, where it needs to be from communities up,” she says.
To engage the communities in the decision-making process, Linklater says it would be best to go into the communities but it’s important to ensure it’s done in a safe way and in the way communities and their leadership want. It’s also important to include youth and let them be a part of the process as well, Linklater says.
“I really enjoy helping our people and getting them connected with services or just helping them out,” she says.
For more details on Linklater's campaign, connect with her on Facebook.
The other candidates vying to be grand chief are Ernest Beck, Mike Metatawabin and Andrew Solomon. The selected grand chief will serve the remaining term until Mushkegowuk Council’s next general election in August 2023.
