BUILDING BRIDGES
Dan Christmas keynote speaker at chamber AGM
The first Mi’kmaq member of Canada’s Senate encourages working together.
Dan Christmas says his life has always been about building bridges between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal worlds.
Now he’s doing it on a national stage, as the first Mi’kmaq appointee to the Senate.
Christmas was keynote speaker at Monday’s annual general meeting of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce.
As its senior adviser and also a member of band council, Christmas played a key role in the transformation of Membertou from an aboriginal community facing bankruptcy to one of the most successful First Nations in Canada.
He was a non-partisan appointee to the upper chamber by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and was sworn-in in December.
Last summer, the 61-year-old was actually considering retiring. But it was Regional Chief Morley Googoo who suggested Christmas apply for a Senate appointment, saying the Nova Scotia chiefs wanted a Mi’kmaq person to apply.
“He also asked me to think about what the appointment would mean … for our young people, our Mi’kmaq young people, about the hope and the inspiration that it would give them, that they too could aspire to a high political office one day, maybe even becoming
the prime minister of Canada,” Christmas said.
“It was that last point that really got me.”
After a relatively rigorous process — “the application was brutal”— several months passed before there was some back and forth with the Privy Council Office, and he was asked to be available for a call at a time that conflicted with a family birthday party.
It was Trudeau on the phone and he also asked that word of
the appointment be kept under wraps until an announcement was made. He did tell his wife and tried to quietly inform his 81-year-old mother but other partygoers overheard.
“Before I left the house that evening, it was already on Facebook,” Christmas said.
One of the reasons he decided to apply for the Senate stemmed from a report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission with calls to action that Christmas
described as comprehensive and wide-ranging.
“I have always believed that building bridges between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples was the most important thing,” he said.
He noted he was educated in non-aboriginal schools, having graduated first from Sydney Academy and later from what was then University College of Cape Breton, serving on boards and organizations.
“I always tried to understand how things work in the nonaboriginal world and along the way I also tried to impart to others how the aboriginal community saw things,” Christmas said.
He said he was inspired by the chance to be a part of the national reconciliation process, and noted it was former Truth and Reconciliation Commission chair Sen. Murray Sinclair who was the first member of the Senate to call and congratulate him on his appointment.
“I think I have something to offer here and I really believe I can make a difference here,” he said. “At the very least, I’m willing to make the effort.”
Christmas said he also believes he can help foster economic prosperity for Nova Scotia and specifically Cape Breton, given his experience with Membertou, and particularly noting the potential associated with the trade deal between Canada and the European Union.
Christmas said he strongly encourages Cape Breton businesses, municipalities, First Nations, educational institutions to come together and look at the opportunities that could be available to them, as they did with the dredging of Sydney harbour.
“When we as Cape Bretoners make up our minds about doing something, we can do remarkable things.”