Chief Terry Richardson: ‘We’ve got to make changes. The only way to do that is together.’

Chief Terry Richardson was an honouree at the 2026 Frank McKenna Awards, which recognize exceptional leaders whose contributions to public policy have strengthened Atlantic Canada and the country. Richardson became leader of northern New Brunswick’s Pabineau First Nation (Oinpegitjoig L’Noeigati) in 2020, after 25 years in the Canadian Armed Forces (see PPF’s profile here). 

Read his speech, about the need for his community, province and country to work together and seize opportunities  at a challenging time. 

The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity. 

It’s an honor, and I’m humbled to receive this award. But I receive it not only for myself but for my community.

You know, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, you have to have a village or a community that believes in your vision: where you’re going, what your goals are, what your aspirations are as you move forward. I’m very fortunate to have a community who looks at what my vision is and buys into it and says, ‘Chief, we are we’re with you. We’re going to move with you.’

It’s a great it’s a great honor to represent my community, and I love my community. Firstly, I’m from Pabineau First Nation. Secondly, I’m from the greatest province in Canada, New Brunswick. And thirdly, the greatest country in the world, Canada. That’s who we are.

The premier mentioned earlier when she came to our riding. I remember when she was offering our riding, and I said, “You know what? There’s the next premier, because she had the vision, the compassion, and she wanted to move this province forward for the benefit of all, and I think that’s the vision we have to have. You know, working together, because the reality is this is a very trying time geopolitically. We know we have neighbours in the south who aren’t so neighbourly anymore. So we have to look  above and beyond.

You know, the situation in the south may may change a little bit from now, but what happens to the next individual who comes in? So we’ve got do some changes in Canada, and the only way we’re going to do that is together. When the Acadians first went through expulsion in New Brunswick, the Mi’kmaw were there to support them, we brought them into our homes. We fed them. We helped them. We brought them through that difficult time. That’s why the bond between the Acadians and the Mi’kmaq in New Brunswick is so strong. We now have an opportunity as a country for First Nations to lead us through this difficult time. That’s the message I deliver to all leaders that are First Nations across Canada. We have to do this together, and in partnership with our partners, our provincial partners, our federal partners. Together, we can do this, and this is the time to do it.

My heart is in Northern New Brunswick. I have some great partners in Northern New Brunswick. The Port of Belledune, Denis Caron and his staff up there. We’re pushing the Port of Belledune. We see that as a gem. This is how we’re going to grow it, region by region. We have the Port of St. John, another great port. We’ve got to get away from being jealous of each other. When I see another First Nation being prosperous, I’m excited, I’m happy, and I say, “Geez, how did they get here? Maybe I can do something better to make my situation even a little bit better.” And that’s what we’ve got to do as regions.

You know, the city of Fredericton gets something great. The city of Saint John gets something great. The city of Moncton does well, awesome. Because at the end of the day, we all live in the same region. We’re all here for the same purpose: to experience our lives, to live prosper prosperously in the region and together in the region. And that’s what we’ve got to continue to do: is grow together.

I’m an optimist. I believe there’s great opportunity out there. There’s opportunities coming galore that we can actually take advantage of, but we’ve got to do it together. We have to have the ambition and drive to make those hard decisions and have those hard discussions when we look at what’s happening in New Brunswick and the opportunities we have. The problem we have is people don’t have these difficult conversations.

But we have to because that’s the only way we’re going to go and grow together. That’s what I’m so excited about as we move forward: is that the opportunity is there for all of us in New Brunswick to be prosperous, First Nations included. I think we’re ready to take the lead in this. That’s what I push with all First Nation communities. We have the great leadership in the province, who’s working with us. We have our federal partners who are working with us. Now is the time. The window is open, so we’ve got to get through that window. That’s the challenge.

I didn’t want to talk too long, but one person I really want to acknowledge is is my fiance Tiffany, who has been my rock through this whole thing. Behind every person is somebody who has the harder job. My job is hard, but not as hard as hers. And I say that because we all have spouses or significant others who do that work for us. They’re they’re the grounding of us. They keep us grounded. They say time to put the phone away, say look, you can’t make those calls at 4 o’clock in the morning anymore. You know, I don’t care about time zones. We do it a little bit later, and you’ve got to do that, right? Because otherwise, if you don’t have those people there — they’re the ones that make your life more successful. So, Tiffany, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me.

It’s an honour, a privilege to accept this award, but I’ll be accepting it on behalf of Pabineau First Nation, and anybody who comes to my community will see this award when they come into the entrance of our band hall.