Xavier Kataquapit

My home community of Attawapiskat First Nation will be holding a local election this month on August 29. It is an exciting time not just for those living in the community but for those members, like myself, who now live and work in southern cities and towns away from the James Bay coast. This will officially be the first community election where off-reserve members who don’t reside in the community will have the opportunity to vote for their leadership. Although off reserve voting had occurred in previous elections, it was in a very limited capacity.

Attawapiskat First Nation is preparing for an upcoming local election for leadership set to take place on August 29, 2025. The community recently held a nomination meeting at the Reg Louttit Sportsplex Gym on Thursday July 31, 2025 to allow community members to nominate candidates for the election. The community will be electing leaders for the position of Chief, Deputy Chief and 11 Council members. The meeting included members of Attawapiskat FN as well as First Nation members who participated through live online teleconferencing from different locations.

First Nation youth are continuing the push to make themselves heard with the actions of Mahmo Inninuwuk Wiibuseegostamok, a James Bay Cree phrase that means ‘Uniting the People to Stand Together’. The group has started a protest walk to travel from Timmins to Queen’s Park in the city of Toronto to bring awareness and attention to their dissatisfaction of Ontario’s Bill 5 and Canada’s Bill C5.

Jeronimo Kataquapit has made us all proud for his ability to live up to the title of his grass roots movement ‘Here We Stand – Call To Action’. In a Monday morning meeting with Mushkegowuk Council Chiefs leading up to the Thursday July 17 meeting with the federal government, Jeronimo took the opportunity to state to the leadership that we need to take a stand and that we all need to take action in order to protect our communities, First Nation rights and the lands and waterways we all live on.

First Nation youth are rising up to protest Canada’s Bill C5 and Ontario’s Bill 5 which both threaten the most pristine wilderness in Northern Ontario. These new bills threaten to bypass the idea of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) which is a principle within the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) that emphasizes the right of Indigenous peoples to give or withhold their consent to activities that affect their lands, territories, and resources.