The Hon. Ethel Blondin-Andrew is replacing Valérie Courtois as our Cannexus closing keynote.

The Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, P.C. is a Shútao’tine (Mountain Dene) from Tulit’a, Northwest Territories (NWT). She is a senior leader with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. Early in her formidable career, Ms. Blondin-Andrew taught in three NWT communities; in Tuktoyaktuk, Deline and Fort Providence, eventually specializing in Indigenous language curriculum development in Yellowknife. In 1988, Ms. Blondin-Andrew was the first Indigenous woman elected to Parliament, serving for 17 years as an MP, 13 of them in cabinet. In 2019, she received the Maclean’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” (for former Members of Parliament). Ms. Blondin-Andrew chaired the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, a land claims organization, for nine years. These days she spends much of her time out on the land working with Indigenous Guardians and in these COVID times helping them to address issues of food security for her people.