The PPF Academy is pleased to host the long-running Speaker Series on Indigenous Issues and Initiatives and work with PPF Emerging Leader award recipient Caitlin Tolley as curator and co-host of the series.
About the Program

The series is devoted to emerging policy issues that affect First Nation, Métis, Inuit, and urban Indigenous peoples in Canada. Speakers come from a wide range of backgrounds and institutions, including Indigenous, academic, government and not-for-profit organizations. Presentations are followed by informal Q & A sessions allowing for in-depth discussion.


Upcoming Sessions

Join series curator and co-host and PPF Emerging Leader award recipient Caitlin Tolley and PPF for upcoming sessions.

  • Valley of the Birdtail – January 25, 2023 from 12-1 p.m. EST with authors Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii)

Join authors Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) as they introduce their book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation, and answer your questions about one of the best-selling books of 2022. Valley of the Birdtail details how public policies created divergent histories and realities for the neighbouring communities of Rossburn and Waywayseecappo. It also suggests policy solutions to fix the gaps between these communities and hundreds of others across the country.

Register for Valley Of The BiRdtail – Jan. 25 (FREE)


Recent Sessions

  • Virtual lunch with Autumn Peltier – August 17, 2022 with water advocate Autumn Peltier
  • Implementing UNDRIP – April 13, 2022 with Prof. Brenda Gunn, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, University of Manitoba
  • Indigenous Data Sovereignty – February 23, 2022 with Akawe Technologies’ President Jarret Leaman and CEO Leanne M. Bellegarde Q.C.

For a list of previous speakers, their topics of presentation and presentation slides, please visit Stratéjuste’s webpage.

Background

The series started 16 years ago when Mike DeGagné, then of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and John Graham, then of the Institute on Governance, first held a series aimed at getting speakers, organizers, and participants together with no particular agenda — simply to share and learn. In addition to discussing the significant socio-economic and structural barriers that First Nation, Métis, Inuit, and urban Indigenous peoples continue to face in Canada, we also took care to feature the many positive initiatives to meet them — in particular those led by Indigenous people themselves.

The series migrated to PPF’s boardroom in 2013 and PPF became more engaged in the programming starting in 2019. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the series shifted online which allowed for a much larger audience and speakers from further away to take part. The journey has been to understand the issues Indigenous peoples face, and the diverse initiatives to restore their well-being and rightful place on these lands.

For more information, contact: Nicole Nuk

Caitlin Tolley
Prof. Brenda Gunn
Jarret Leaman
Leanne Bellegarde, Q.C. (She/Her/Hers)
Nicole Nuk (nnuk@ppforum.ca)