WHITECAP — Autumn Laing-LaRose is proud to become the first elected president of the Provincial Métis Youth Council and is optimistic about how things will turn out for the future generation through the guidance of their Métis Nation-Saskatchewan leaders and their elders.
Laing-LaR ose joined 80 other Métis youth representatives from all over Saskatchewan that attended the Métis Rights Conference 2023 Youth Workshop on Thursday, May 4, at the Dakota Dunes Resort. There were also Métis youth delegates from Alberta and Ontario.
The youth workshop, which had Shanese Steele as the facilitator, is being held for the first time with the hope of having the youth be more involved with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The workshop is part of the two-day MN-S Métis Rights Conference on UNDRIP at the Dakota Dunes Resort which will honour National Red Dress Day on Friday, May 5, in remembrance of all Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
Laing-LaRose said it took over a year before she finally settled into being the Métis youth leader and their representative to MN-S as its Minister. She thanked everyone for their patience and the assistance given to her by their leaders and elders.
“I guess it took me a year to figure out everything. To get my bearings and learn what this youth leader role means. And then build on that momentum to ensure what will turn out,” she told SASKTODAY after a break in the workshop.
“The [MN-S] legislative assembly that we are having near the end of May will be the first time that Métis people in Saskatchewan are voting on a budget where the youth have a budget line with the money allocated for the Provincial Youth Council where we will build our staff.”
She said she sees a bright future for the Métis youth, especially in the experience they gained from the workshop, where they can learn from each other’s stories and form bonds to create positive changes in their communities.
“This workshop is vital for me with the MN-S at a critical point in terms of advancing their self-government and kind of stepping into the international scope as well as building relationships with Canada and other countries,” said Laing-.
“When you are building a space to talk about how the UNDRIP applies to us, the Métis youth, and to be able to provide the educational standpoint so that we can understand how it applies to us and we also get to say on what we want to see the outcome from it.”
Laing-LaRose added that what excites her about the Métis youth is the 18,000-square-foot youth centre built in Batoche, where younger kids will learn more about their culture, language and traditions.
