Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to take this opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of a person who has devoted much to improving the lives and situations of people of the North. This January marks the 40th anniversary of Lena Pedersen’s election to the Legislative Assembly.
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This anniversary is especially noteworthy, because in 1970 Lena was the first woman to be elected to the Assembly, then called the Territorial Council.
Born and raised in Greenland and upon coming to the Northwest Territories in 1959, Lena has lived and worked throughout the North in communities from Coppermine, Pangnirtung and Cape Dorset to Yellowknife and Rae.
The constituency she represented was the Central Arctic, made up of Pelly Bay, Spence Bay, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay, Bathurst Inlet, Bay Chimo, Coppermine and Holman. One of Lena’s early accomplishments in the Legislative Assembly was getting funding to build the Kitikmeot boarding home for out-of-town patients to stay at when in Yellowknife for medical care. It is named in her honour. During her term Lena was a member of the Housing Corporation and she chaired a special education report. Getting schools built in communities was a very important goal for her. When she was elected many communities had one-room buildings that taught grades 1 through 5.
Another success of Lena’s is how she was able to get an extension on the airstrip in Coppermine. The project was not in the government’s capital budget, but she was able to come up with a creative solution that involved negotiations with Gulf Oil to support the project financially.
Lena’s community activities involvement did not end with her groundbreaking term in office. Over the years she has worked as a drug and alcohol program coordinator in Kugluktuk, served as a board member for the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, and served as a commissioner for Nunavut’s Law Review Commission. Her activities in Yellowknife have included time spent working at the Yellowknife Women’s Centre, where she has used traditional and cultural and language activities to help the people build their self-esteem and reduce feelings of isolation that some have experienced.
Lena has been a board member for the Native Women’s Association of the NWT, is an active member of the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society and continues to be involved with Bosco Homes Territorial Children’s Treatment Centre. Throughout, Lena has acknowledged that if a person is going to be able to help improve a situation, listening carefully to the people involved is an important first step. She continues to encourage effective and positive communications between and among people, not just elders and youth or politicians and the people they serve.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Lena for all that she has done for the people of the Northwest Territories and the role model that she continues to be.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
