Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to mention a constituent whose longstanding efforts to improve the lives and situations of people of the North have been recognized by the Status of Women Council. Today is International Women’s Day and at noon the Wise Women Awards were presented. This year Lena Pedersen is one of the recipients.
Last year was the 40th anniversary of Lena Pedersen’s election to the Legislative Assembly. In 1970 Lena was the first woman to be elected to the Assembly. 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 Pangnirtung, Cape Dorset and Coppermine, to Yellowknife and Rae. The constituency she represented was Central Arctic, made up of Pelly Bay, Spence Bay, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay, Bathurst Inlet, Bay Chimo, Coppermine and Holman. One of Lena’s earlier 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 was 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 also a very important goal for her. When she was elected, many communities had one-room buildings and taught grades 1 through 5.
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 of 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 culture and language activities to help 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 Northwest Territories and is an active member of the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society. She worked at Bosco Homes Territorial Treatment Centre for a number of years and in 2010 began working as a community wellness and addictions counsellor at the Tree of Peace Friendship 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 communication 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 and continues to do for the people of the Northwest Territories as well as congratulate her for this most deserved award. Thank you, Lena.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
