Willow Fiddler
APTN National News
Knowing their rights and freedoms was one of the messages Sen. Marilou McPhedran had for students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay Tuesday.
And sometimes that means sticking up for your rights.
“It’s saying, ‘No, we don’t agree. No, that’s not fair, we’re challenging the law. That’s one form of protest,” said McPhedran.
McPhedran, a lawyer and human rights advocate, was one of three senators appointed from Manitoba last November.
She said coming to the First Nations high school was a priority.
“The existence of high schools … where there’s a celebration and a very positive endorsement of who (First Nation students) are is long overdue,” she said.
First Nation students attending high school in Thunder Bay have faced racism and death over the past two decades.
McPhedran said she understands the barriers the students have faced.
Student Jared McKay from Keewayin First Nation was impressed with the visit.
“She’s trying to find a way to work around that, with Indigenous problems, but first things first – education- which is pretty cool and I learned she understood that, too,” said McKay.
McPhedran invited the students to come to Ottawa and visit the Senate before touring the school.
