Exemplary volunteer recognized
Former Iqaluit mayor Madeleine Redfern speaks about being awarded for public service by national organization
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 24, 2014
OTTAWA
There's nothing quite like seeing an idea become reality, but it's even better when the idea sticks and grows.
Former Iqaluit mayor Madeleine Redfern is to receive the Indspire Award for public service at a gala in Calgary Feb. 27. - photo courtesy of Indspire |
Former Iqaluit mayor Madeleine Redfern, who will receive an Indspire Award for public service in February, was recently overcome when she visited the aboriginal health centre she committed years to establishing.
"I was one of the only members that remained from an original steering committee to the day the doors opened," Redfern said, reflecting on the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health in Ottawa, citing four to five years of weekly meetings.
She hadn't been to the facility in years, and said it was very emotional "to see how it had expanded and to see the many people using the facilities, and that an idea, just a dream, came into reality, and to see those things make a difference in people's lives."
Her years and countless hours of volunteer work started with the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Community Centre, where she was president. Opportunities grew from there.
Her resume is packed with positions on aboriginal and Inuit organization boards, including current roles as chairperson of the Nunavut Legal Services Board, a mentor for the Trudeau Foundation, co-chair of the Gordon Munk Arctic Security Program and a board member for Maliiganik Legal Aid.
Why offer so much of her time?
"Because I care," she said. "I recognize there are huge issues and needs in our communities, and that people really do need access to services that can make a difference in their lives and help them. I was taught that when I am fortunate enough to be in a good situation, not homeless or living in poverty, if I have the skillset and time, that I should do whatever I can to help others who are less fortunate. Not to do it for them, but to do it with people.
"It's incredibly rewarding to be able to forge those relationships, build those capacities, see programs come into being," she said.
Her tenacity and execution skills got the attention of Indspire this year. She was one of 14 recipients, and three Nunavummiut, to earn Indspire Awards.
"Madeleine Redfern has worked tirelessly to make policymakers aware of the tremendous diversity of the North and the cultural integrity of the Inuit," Indspire president and CEO Roberta Jamieson stated in an e-mail to Nunavut News/North. "She also works to ensure that the Inuit create their own policies and programs that reflect their cultural and historical distinctness."
As an example, Redfern cites the federal government's establishment of the Aboriginal Head Start program. The feds planned for one program for all aboriginal people in Ottawa. With the cultural and language differences, it simply would not meet the needs of Ottawa's Inuit.
"I remember speaking to my community members and saying that, instead of coming across as against First Nations or an Aboriginal Head Start, let's see if the First Nations community would understand why we felt we needed our own distinct Head Start," she recalled. "And they absolutely understood and supported it and it made lobbying efforts with the federal government that much easier."
What started as a half-day program for a dozen children is now thriving as a morning and afternoon program, she said.
Redfern's volunteer work is exemplary, but she also finds time to run a business. As one of the Nunavummiut who attended the Akitsiraq Law School, which produced a single cohort of 11 graduates in 2005, Redfern was the first Inuk to be given a Supreme Court of Canada clerkship. Her ability to speak so people listen and her understanding of cultural differences mean she is in demand as a consultant for businesses interested in tapping into and developing Nunavut's potential.
"It's a reality: our territory is going to be developed," she said. "We need to make sure that people who are coming into our territory do this engagement and development well. And we're here to assist them, and to assist our communities, to ensure it is done well."
Too often, she says, the community comes together to identify a need but politics get in the way. It's why she continues to speak across the country about poverty, food insecurity, homelessness, people's health, and education in Nunavut. On the last point, she believes the best way to produce more people like her is to open a university in Iqaluit.
"I think we need to have access to higher education in our own territory. I benefited from doing my law degree in my own community, as did the other graduates. It was highly successful. People (trained in Iqaluit) have repeatedly said they're succeeding because they're able to do that education in our own territory."
Specifically, she says the territory needs a second cohort of law graduates, and thinks the program should include the ability to get a master's degree in business administration or a master's degree in public administration.
"There are significant contributions that can be made not only by people with a law degree but being able to contribute with good governance," she said. "Whatever the issue is, we really do need good leaders and managers in place to make those programs either exist or better."
Redfern, along with fellow Nunavummiut Jordan Konek and Peter Irniq, are to receive Indspire Awards, at a gala in Calgary Feb. 27.
