Well actually, it’s that time again… two years later.

The LPC Biennial Convention!

Remember my blog post a couple of years ago? No. That’s okay. Two years is a long time ago. I mean, I don’t even remember what I ate for breakfast (small lie–I eat mostly cereals and fruits for breakfast so there really isn’t anyway for me to forget). For your reference and to help jog your memories, I wrote two blog posts (here and here). I wrote these posts to raise funds for this special journey which lasted *drum roll* two years!!!!

Over the past two years, I have encountered many challenges, learned many lessons and also gained some valuable knowledge/experience on how the Canadian political process(es) work. It was definitely a learning curve for me because this was the first time I had ever been involved in in politics and the people I was surrounded by had definitely a lot more knowledge and experience than I did. Fortunately enough, some of the people I met along of the way were willing to help me get over that learning curve. I mean, the only thing I knew about Canadian politics was what I learned back in high school and maybe some of my law clerk courses during college (I think… or that might have been during first year university… that’s kind of a long time ago though).

In the two posts linked above, I wrote about my desire to fulfill the VP-women’s representative position for the Aboriginal Peoples’ Commission for the Liberal Party of Canada. However, to make it all happen, I also had to raise some funds in order to be considered as a candidate (which I was acclaimed too). This post is sort of the same.

Being apart of this commission was a role in which I volunteered for. Some of the things I accomplished in my role include the following:

• Drafting a resolution on MMIWG
• Advocating for Indigenous women/girls and issues that affect them (including reproductive health, violence against women, MMIWG)
• Writing blog posts for the apc-cpa.liberal.ca website (post 1, post 2, and post 3)
• Ensuring that potential party leaders were questioned about their stance on issues that affect Indigenous women/girls, including how they would support organizations that are currently advocating for Indigenous women/girls.
• Providing support/advice to other young Indigenous women who were interested
• Representing the commission at the Assembly of First Nations AGA in Toronto of June 2012, and interviewing Indigenous women from various Indigenous organizations, including Indspire, Families of Sisters in Spirits, and Indigenous Women in Community Leadership program at the Coady Institute on the east coast
• Attending policy forums where/when possible
• Also, I am a member of the board of the London North Center FLA and provide feedback on events/topics/etc pertaining to Indigenous issues

Some of the costs that I would need assistance with include accommodation costs and food/incidentals. Luckily, the travel has been graciously purchased for (Thank you/Chi-Miigwetch APC!). A more detailed list includes the following:

• 164/night x 4 nights (divided amongst 3) = $218 (minus taxes) for accommodations
• 50/day x 4 days = $200 for food/incidentals
• TOTAL = $418

As a part of this final stage in this journey, I am attending the convention to be able to support my peers and other Indigenous people running for their positions that are interested in filling. I am also attending this convention to share my experiences and voice any concerns to help make the next team’s tasks coming in, a little more easier. Being both an Indigenous person and a woman, I can appreciate the struggles that individuals from either group have to endure. At times, there were many instances that I wanted to quit, but I didn’t because I felt that I would be cheating myself and those who supported me–such as those who donated the last time. When this journey is over, this will probably be the last time I participate this deep in politics (as in sit on a commission). As much as I love politics, I feel that my journey is going to continue on a different path. This path, although not always easy, was definitely one worth taking.

I am hoping that I can raise some funds to assist with some of these costs, similar to last time. If it wasn’t for your help, whether you shared the blog post, RT’d the blog post, donated what you could or provided me with some moral support, I probably wouldn’t have made it this far. If you would like to donate via email-money transfer, please contact me directly, or post a comment below with your email and I will reply directly to your email (all comments need approval so any comments with emails won’t be published). Also, you can donate via paypal (the button at the top of the page on the right).

Help me complete this last leg of my journey! Your donations (any amount from $2.00 to $20.00) will be greatly appreciated!

Chi-Miigwetch/Mahsi-cho/Niá:wen/Thank you* 

*Those are the only ways I know how to say “Thank you” in Indigenous language(s)… if you know more, comment below!