The national conference on ending homelessness Nov. 3 to Nov. 5 in Winnipeg included the Deputy Grand Chief of the Mushkegowuk Council and more than 2,000 delegates. Natasha Martin presented a coordinated response as a blueprint for First Nations and municipalities to emulate across the country, the council said in a news release Monday. “Indigenous leadership could no longer sit outside the governance of a system affecting Indigenous people the most,” said Martin. She also pointed out the disproportionately high number of homeless people who identify as Indigenous. A recent analysis in June found that 55.7 per cent of homeless people across the district identified as Indigenous despite the fact only 18.7 per cent of the entire local population is of aboriginal descent, the council said. Christine Heavens, the director of community development and services for the Cochrane District Services Board was at the conference as a co-presenter with Martin and addressed efforts to build a district-wide homelessness strategy across urban, rural and remote coastal communities. The partnership between the council and board was formed in June when the council brought together its regional leaders in an effort to establish an enhanced, district-wide response to homelessness through a coalition-based approach. “One thing about this leadership table is that we all have the same goal and it’s to help people — not just Omushkego people, but everybody,” said Martin. “That’s what I really like about this table. I’m feeling very hopeful with this table moving forward.”
