Marie-Josée Parent, a Verdun city councillor, will now be responsible for reconciliation and culture as a member of Montreal’s executive committee.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante made the announcement at city hall Monday morning, calling Parent’s appointment an important step in forging relationships with Indigenous Montrealers and strengthening the city’s cultural milieu.
“It’s really about the expertise she can bring to the table,” she said.
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Parent, who is of Mi’kmaq and Acadian heritage, made history last year as the first Indigenous city councillor ever to be elected in Montreal.
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Prior to her jump into politics, Parent was the director general of DestiNations, an organization dedicated to promoting Indigenous art and culture. She said she hopes to bring that experience to her new role.
Parent told reporters she doesn’t see reconciliation as a challenge but as a “societal project that we’re building.”
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“We’re working in a very positive manner to create bridges between nations,” she said, adding that her priority is to create a setting where everyone “has a seat and everybody is equal in their ability to speak and be heard.”
Plante said they both agree on how to approach the reconciliation process.
“It’s not initially about erasing history, but how do we create bridges?” Plante said. “How do we create dialogue? How do we make sure that different signs of our history is out there, is known, is shared?”
“This is something we feel is shared between the two of us.”
Parent, the city councillor for Champlain and L’Île-des-Soeurs, was elected under the Team Coderre banner but will now sit as an independent.
—With files from Global’s Kalina Laframboise
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