A St. Albert woman has won election to the Otipemisiwak Métis Government (OMG) as a District Councillor for District 11-St. Albert.
Jody L'Hirondelle Swanson was born in Athabasca and moved to St. Albert in January 2010. She said she grew up around politics, and her election win was announced on June 27.
"My dad was a deputy mayor and my mom ran the PC office for years. So I kind of grew up in politics, but in a different time of politics where people really worked together and helped each other out," L'Hirondelle Swanson said. "And even now I do a lot of volunteering and philanthropy work in St. Albert."
She added that she feels very connected to her Métis heritage, family, and ancestors.
"My mom was Cree Métis. She spoke Cree, she told me I needed to learn the language, teach it to our kids, which I've been doing. And it's also brought me closer to our Métis community here in St. Albert," she said, adding that her great grandfather and his family line is originally from St. Albert.
"I just felt that it was my duty to give back as well. Not only just in regular volunteerism, but also with helping our Métis citizens here within St. Albert. I'm definitely here to serve," she said.
The OMG was created when the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) transitioned from a regional council model to district councils. In the OMG's transition plan, the transition to this new model was called "another step in the journey to self-government and self-determination. This comes with benefits for Citizens, community-led governance, and the ability for the government to deliver province-wide services and programs."
District 11 - St. Albert Métis District stretches down south to Camrose and far east past Tofield, Alta. It does not include Edmonton, which is split between District 9 - Fort Edmonton Métis District and District 10 - Edmonton Whitemud Métis District.
L'Hirondelle Swanson said that the transition will help the Métis Government in Alberta better access grant funding for their own communities.
"The MNA traditionally answered to the provincial government and received funds from the provincial government," she said. "They were looking for more constructive ways to access the funding without having to conflict with the provincial government or to not have access to those funds. Because if the provincial government didn't agree with something, then they wouldn't pass those funds along to the MNA government."
"It allows for more congruency and being able to access things that we need to access such as child services, health services. Being able to get funding for Métis citizen housing, grant programs for post-secondary education," she said.
She said that for her, some of the biggest issues that she hopes to work on are transparency and accountability.
"I want to make sure that that's very clear, transparent, and that we're accountable for all funds. Because all of our citizens should have equal access to funding, support, activities, gatherings, and get-togethers. Not just for elite people running the show, but for everyone that's part of our community," she said.
L'Hirondelle Swanson believes that St. Albert will have a very strong voice to be heard within the OMG.
"With St. Albert being such a strong Métis community — and you will recognize a lot of Métis family names here in St. Albert — we have a very strong presence and we are a very strong district within the Otipemisiwak government," she said.
