What ties do you have to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and what steps will you take to grow those connections if elected?

If elected I will commit to working with and supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. I am an ally to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and I will continue to build and maintain relationships with all underrepresented partners within our community and territory. 

The Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit Report specifically states 2SLGBTQQIA+ Indigenous communities are included in the Calls to Action. If you were elected, what is your plan for seeing through an inclusive MMIWG2S Act in the NWT?

As an indigenous person I feel it is my duty to continue the great work that has been started by others, working with Indigenous Governments, the Federal Government and GNWT, to implement the TRC’s calls to action will be true reconciliation. Additionally, the GNWT has implemented UNDRIP and this will further improve the GNWT's relationships with Indigenous Governments and Organizations while strengthening Legislation and Regulations.

What do you know about the current challenges of two spirit, indigiqueer, transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in the NWT, and what steps will you take to commit to addressing these challenges?

Safety, feeling safe enough to be who you are will always be a challenge. We must work together to break down the walls that continue to make others feel they are not safe. We can achieve this by starting with being able to understand, show compassion, and have love for one another. I will always advocate for everyone to have equality, respect and a sense of safety in their own community and territory.

The NWT currently offers the most protection for two spirit, transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in Canada. This includes gender-affirming surgeries, trans+ healthcare, policies and more. Given the current political atmosphere targeting two spirit, transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people, what steps would you take to preserve these protections?

I will always advocate for everyone to have equality, respect and a sense of safety in their own community and territory. We must continue to listen and ensure we continue to stand up for each other, this is my commitment to preserve the protections currently in place.

The evacuation(s) this past summer were detrimental to many communities with devastating aftermaths. Were you impacted by the evacuation(s) this past summer and what did you do during that time? If elected, how do you plan to deal with the ongoing impacts, and how would you improve a future response?

Yes, I was affected, as was the whole territory and although Inuvik was not evacuated, we came close and the stress of that was a lot. Although it is nothing like what our family and friends, in the parts of the territory, who had to be evacuated have gone through, for me it is a good reminder that communication is key. We need better communication and protocols in place when these emergencies happen, as we have seen, a lot of panic and uncertainty comes with these emergencies, and we need to be able to manage that to reduce the stress put on our residents and the frontline workers who have to manage these emergencies.

A lot of work has gone into the Emergency Plans for the territory and the organizations, and their staff need to be recognized for that, so to say they need to improve something assumes it’s a failure and saying that isn’t fair to the people who gave it their all to ensure our territory was safe to the best of their abilities during the emergencies. With that said, we must always revisit our community plans, how we allocate resources and how we can support to ensure the best result from a situation or situations that often throw us curve balls, that is why they are emergencies, but how we respond is the true measure of the plans we have in place.

Also looking at what has worked in emergencies and what are the lessons learned, incorporating those types of changes to community plans can help us in the future. Continuing to strengthen the plans we have in place before these types of emergencies happen is very important, revisiting existing plans to ensure they are updated regularly. We know that these emergencies can happen each year, so we need to be prepared to the best of our abilities. Being proactive rather than reactive can potentially resolve a lot of challenges faced with emergencies.