Dr. Marcia Anderson-Decoteau and Mayor Brian Bowman // Photo by City of Winnipeg
Mayor announces Indigenous Advisory Circle
On Monday, June 22, Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman (BA(ADV)/96) announced a new Mayor’s Indigenous Advisory Circle to advise on policies the city can implement to build awareness, bridges and understanding between the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community.
The Mayor’s Indigenous Advisory Circle developed from one of the hundreds of submissions received through Bowman’s website 1winnipeg.ca. The initiative was created to help “establish a means to educate and create awareness of the rich Aboriginal culture, people and heritage that are at the roots of the city and nation,” according to a city press release.
The circle will meet four times a year with its first meeting is scheduled for Sept. 17 to coincide with an anti-racism summit being hosted at — and in partnership with — the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
Led by Wab Kinew (BA/03), the Mayor’s Indigenous Advisory Circle includes many members of the University of Manitoba alumni community:
- Harry Bone, Elder (LLD/13)
- Justice Murray Sinclair (LLB/79, LLD/02), Commissioner, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
- Jamie Wilson (M.Ed/09), Commissioner, Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba
- Dr. Marcia Anderson-Decoteau (MD/02), associate professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences
- Kimberley Puhach (Ext Ed/11), Consultant, Leaders and Co
- EJ Fontaine (Dip Agric/87), President/CEO and founding partners of Anishinabek Consultants Inc.
- Mae Louise Campbell, Elder
- Esther Ducharme, Elder
- Councillor Cindy Gilroy, Chair, Citizens Equity Committee
- Jessica Dumas, Owner and Founder of Prime Image Life Coaching
- Damon Johnston, President, Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg
- Dee Thomas-Hart, university student, youth representative, Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce
- Manley A. Begay Jr. co-director of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic
Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University - Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and Associate Professor, University of Alberta.
- Alan Greyeyes, Aboriginal Music Development Manager for Manitoba Music, Chair, Aboriginal Music Manitoba
- Chief Robert Louie, Chief, Westbank First Nation
- Sean McCormick, CEO and Founder, Manitobah Mukluks
- Kerri Tattuinee, university student