Candidate for Regional Councilor, PCMNO, Region 5
I am grateful for this opportunity to be a candidate for the position of Regional Councilor, PCMNO, Region 5. My name is Suzanne Fortin, and I am a proud descendant of Marie Louise Riel, cousin to Louis Riel.
I have been actively involved with the Sudbury Metis Council (SMC) for the past 5 years. First as Treasurer, then as President. My years as President have allowed me to actively work with our community. Further, I participate on the following committees: Indigenous Education, Early Learning and Child Care, Lands Resource, Economic Development, and Self Governance.
My background comes from the world of finance where I have been a controller, director, and treasurer. As a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA), I am all about budgets and making the best decisions to maximize the value of each dollar available. I strive for fairness and equality. As a CPA, I maintain the highest level of integrity and morals.
With the help of a wonderful Council, I spearheaded the children’s Christmas party, organized quarterly citizen meetings, annual general citizen meetings, fishing derbies and summer barbeques. In addition, we have worked tirelessly to help with food security thru the distribution of meat boxes, turkey gives, and food cards. To promote Metis citizen businesses, I was a key organizer for this year’s first tradeshow in Sudbury. Finally, it has been a pleasure to participate in many women’s activities.
On a more personal level, I am the owner of Rayside Bookkeeping & Tax where I provide financial services to meet the needs of small businesses and farm clients thru the preparation of their personal tax returns, payroll and day to day accounting. I strongly believe that my experience and knowledge with new business development reporting, financial reporting and analysis, will be of great benefit to the Metis citizens of Region 5. To learn more about my work as a CPA, please visit my website at www.raysidebookkeeping.com.
I also own and operate C&S Western Boutique. This small business allows me to return to my Metis roots and create moose and coyote or fox gauntlets and mittens. I also create ribbon skirts, vests, and shirts, medicine bags and many more items while plying my skill at beading and embroidery.
As a Regional Councilor, my priorities will be:
1) Metis economic prosperity
2) Metis self-governance
3) Historical settlements
4) Metis education, culture and traditions
I am a planner, strategic thinker, and organizer. I believe it is important to have a clear direction of where we want to go and understand all aspects before making a decision. My goal is to promote all of Region 5 to PCMNO, the 3 levels of government, and industry. All of the citizens of Region 5 have the right to prosper and no one community is more important than another.
I encourage you to vote for me as your Regional Councilor. Feel free to contact me at my email address below to learn more on how we, as an integrated Region 5, can prosper together.
suzfortin@yahoo.com