Atlantic Policy Congress (APC) Newsletter, Q1 2025 – APC

April 7, 2025

The new year 2025 has brought to the doorstep of our leadership and all our communities a number of extreme changes. These changes will have long-lasting impacts on everyone’s lives and the future prospects or opportunities. Constant changes have been a factor which continues to have an impact on our people every day. Although many of the communities and people want drastic or some changes, values and choice in many cases move them back to the status quo.

Since September of last year, a group of Chiefs and members of the Grand Council have been having ongoing dialogue on how best to support all communities. This work also includes how to work better with all the elected leaders across all our traditional territories. There are many changes including governments, both federal and provincial. Some governments are trying to build their relationships with our leaders for various reasons. They want to pursue some agenda or purpose always toward an overall public interest and to improve conditions and relationships in all our communities. Federally, under the leadership of Justin Trudeau, these efforts and actions have produced many changes in vast areas of our communities. The federal government has invested billions of funding to support changes and or improvements across all our communities. Trudeau resigned and one Mi’kmaq leader put his name forward to become the next leader of the federal Liberal party. Jamie Batiste, a Mi’kmaq from Unama’ki; put his name forward as a leader and to raise important Indigenous concerns and issues in the Liberal leadership race. Unfortunately, he had to leave the race as he was not able to raise the required funding to continue. Jaime Batiste went on to support Mark Carney, our new prime Minister of Canada effective March 14, 2025. It is expected at some point in the near future he will call a general election for all Canadians to decide who should lead Canada in the trade war with the United States and the erratic leader Donald Trump. The ongoing threats to annex Canada and a continued trade war will have serious economic consequences both in Canada and the United States which will impact people directly, including all our First Nations communities in Canada. In Canada, all communities must determine ways to work in a collaborative manner to support all and continue to create and support opportunities.

Read More: https://stmarysfirstnation.com/atlantic-policy-congress-apc-newsletter-q1-2025/