Ernest Beck wants to unite individual First Nations and work on representing the collective interests of all Mushkegowuk communities.
He is one of four candidates vying to be the Mushkegowuk Council grand chief. The byelection is Feb. 25.
Beck currently works as the Mushkegowuk Council’s executive director.
In the past, he served as a Moose Cree First Nation councillor and chief, as interim grand chief for Mushkegowuk Council, as a political advisor to the grand chief's office and as chief negotiator for Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN).
He has also worked as the executive director for Payukotayno-James and Hudson Bay Family Services, NAN and Tikinagan Child and Family Services, and as chief executive officer for Weeneebayko General Hospital.
With his skills and experience in executive management positions, Beck says it felt timely to put his name forward in the by-election. He says he also felt he was the most “appropriate person” to take the reins and lead the organization until the next general election.
As the grand chief, Beck says he would work on the draft Omushkego Constitution and get it ratified by the communities.
With his experience and contacts "readily available," he said he would provide support and stability to communities dealing with COVID-19.
If elected, he would also focus on larger issues such as environmental conservation, treaty issues and on challenging the government on forestry and mining.
At a provincial-territorial level, Beck says the relationship between First Nations and NAN needs to be redefined. From his experience working at NAN, he found the challenge to be able to address the diversity of First Nations.
“You have them at varying stages. Some are better resourced than others. It’s difficult in that form to move the specific agenda of any First Nation. I think that’s the Achilles heel of Nishnawbe Aski Nation,” Beck says.
He says Mushkegowuk Council would be better served as its own provincial-territorial organization focusing on its agenda and seven communities.
Newsletters, visits and communication through media are the best and quickest way to have a dialogue with Elders in the community. For young people, it tends to be Facebook, he says.
A lot of the work done at the Mushkegowuk level is designed to go through community leadership, he says.
“We try not to impose our will nor do we have the ability to do that,” Beck says.
Beck also says there are aspects of Treaty 9 that can be used to bring the Mushkegowuk people together and to advance and strengthen their collective interests.
“In the Mushkegowuk area, we have a tendency and the government has a tendency to isolate people and define them as different people. We have status cards for Attawapiskat, we have status cards for Moose Cree, etc.,” Beck says.
“The nationhood shouldn’t be designed as a division of people. We should have one passport for the Mushkegowuk people. And nationhood is built on the premise that we’re equal,” he says. “There’s a different path that can strengthen us, there’s a different vehicle that we can create that hasn’t been explored that will allow us to move steadily towards nationhood as we redefine it.”
For more details on Beck's campaign, connect with him on Facebook.
The other candidates vying to be grand chief are Alison Linklater, Mike Metatawabin and Andrew Solomon. The selected grand chief will serve the remaining term until Mushkegowuk Council’s next general election in August 2023.
