Skills Development Reflection

Katherine Bermiller, F15

I attended the 2015 Joint Gathering from November 16-18th as a professional

development event during my co-op placement at Indigenous Affairs and Northern

Affairs Canada (INAC). The Joint Gathering is designed to be a space for ongoing

dialogue between the Government of Canada, BC First Nations, and the BC First

Nations Leadership Council. This year there was a designated topic for each day:

Housing, Child and Family Services, and on the last day, Economic Development.

For me, this professional development event was very much about learning

and listening to the speakers and forums. I found it a very valuable and unique

experience given my own position in my studies and in this co-op placement.

First, this was an opportunity to hear directly from prominent First Nations

leaders about their opinions of INAC. After a couple of months in my position, I had

felt a good sense of what my coworkers saw as their impact on First Nations

communities. This understanding has been very enlightening, especially in

comparison and contrast with my academic, theoretical understanding of the federal

government’s interaction with Indigenous peoples in Canada. But attending the Joint

Gathering added another level of depth to this interpretation because I heard first

hand what Indigenous peoples perceived to be Canada’s impact on their

communities. Hearing their heart wrenching words and struggles was a bit of a

reality check for me. I felt reconnected with why I am passionate about Indigenous

relations in Canada, and outraged at the current state of affairs. But this was

confused by my first hand experience at INAC where I witnessed really well

intentioned people trying to make a positive impact within the system that they

found themselves in. How do those two really honest and well-intentioned positions

interact and/or correlate? I will definitely take these insights back to my classes at

UBC in January.

Second, I was told that there was a different energy at the Joint Gathering this

year because of the recent change in government. This was enlightening to my

international relations studies, as I saw real hope for the potential change from a

government that explicitly made aboriginal relations a priority in their platform. I

witnessed the newly appointed Minister of INAC responding to pointed and difficult

questions from First Nations leaders, who asked Canada to live up to the promises

that it has made. Although there is much to improve, there was an air of deep

respect and care from the federal government’s presenters. This made me think of

my political science classes, and I wondered if this type of hopeful and exciting air

follows all changes in government or not. I think there is, unfortunately, the

potential for lots of time and attention to be spent on certain issues during the first

period of a new government, but then eventually be forgotten. First Nations

presenters touched on this as well, highlighting that the promises are very positive

and good, but it really is actions that matter. This particular insight was very unique

because the change in government that had just been confirmed the previous

month.

I will take the lessons I learned at the Joint Gathering with me particularly in

my studies in international relations and in my future career goals. Many of the

aboriginal speakers touched on the different ways that the federal government

could or should approach aboriginal affairs in Canada, and I agreed with many of

their insights. I think that what I learned at the Joint Gathering was very insightful to

my own processing of my understanding of the role of INAC currently is and

potentially could be. I will definitely search out this conference and other similar

ones in the future.