Candidate for Regional Councilor, Region 2
Hello Fellow Citizens.
My name is Robert Whiteside. I am seeking to be your regional councilor for Region 2. People that know me will tell you that I tell it as I see it and don’t just follow the crowd. I have been, a leader, a team player and an entrepreneur (businessman). There are several reasons why I seek to be your regional councilor.
The first and foremost reason is to ensure that we don’t lose what previous local MNO representatives have already achieved. Both Cam Burgess and Tim Pile are stepping aside for personal reasons at this time. Both have served our community for decades and have played their part in securing nationhood for our community. Most people don’t know what that is. In a nutshell, it means the Metis Nation stands toe to toe with the country of Canada. This is a truly historic achievement.
From these people and others, I recognize that our nation needs to be built properly. We, as a nation are developing our constitution. This is critical in many ways. We must ensure that the citizen is at the heart of this entire concept of nationhood. It must be documented in the constitution that the citizen is more important that the MNO itself. I personally fear that the lawyers and bureaucrats will build themselves an empire that will put the citizens at the back of the line.
My second reason to seek to be your representative is the economic development of our citizens and communities. In our region, we have witnessed the development of some major initiatives. The East West Tie, the North American Palladium mine and the Greenstone gold mine are a few of the examples. All of these have contributed to the MNO on a broad scale. But, I believe that not a single Metis contractor or supplier has been engaged. I believe that the citizens must be engaged directly to benefit from the hundreds of millions of dollars spent in our region.
The third main reason I seek to be your representative is to document and promote the Metis culture in our region. I am personally aware of original documents from the residential schools in both N/W Ontario and Manitoba. This information was made available to the MNO at no cost. The MNO has failed to take steps to address this issue. I am also aware of historical work conducted by Lakehead University. As a community, we need to have a centralized depository or museum to document and preserve who we are and how we got here.
Again, I seek your support as regional councilor, region 2. I will not ever forget that I work for you and MNO and its bureaucrats are supposed to work with me for you. I would like to thank you for any consideration you may extend to me. It is my plan to provide updates to the citizens on a regular basis on the progress of our nation status.
Regards
Bob