Among her many tattoos, Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash has the word sensitivebe sensitive in English, traced close to his heart.
“I’m very empathetic, because I haven’t had an easy life, so I’m able to put myself in someone else’s shoes,” explains the Québec solidaire candidate in the riding of Ungava, in his modest home.
We are in the Cree community of Waswanipi, in Nord-du-Québec, which has approximately 2,000 inhabitants. There are rows of similar dwellings, institutional and educational buildings, a Caisse Desjardins, a convenience store and a gas station. For more than a hundred kilometers around, there is only the boreal forest.
It is here that the daughter of former Cree federal deputy Roméo Saganash, born to a Quebec mother, wants to continue to reside, even if she is elected to the National Assembly. She has lived in Quebec, Montreal and other aboriginal communities, but it is in Waswanipi that her quality of life is the best.
“I have my boat to go fishing. My hunting camp is 45 minutes from here. And above all, we all know each other. »
Near the living room, the 27-year-old has erected a small sacred space with photos of her late grandmother. It was her grandmother who, in a way, helped her to rise to the surface when she hit rock bottom. Because Maïtée Labrecque-Saganash did not escape the consumption of alcohol and drugs from her preteen years, in an attempt to forget certain traumas. While studying at university in political science, she found herself homeless. “You’re on your friends’ couch and you feel like a drag,” she recalls.
At that time, she was already involved in the defense of indigenous rights and published columns in the newspaper Subway. “I was angry, and that was what kept me alive, my only engine to move forward,” recalls the activist.
At 22, Maïtée went to Mistissini to help her aunt and her husband take care of her grandmother. “They were basically happy that I was there, without expecting anything from me,” she says with emotion. I fell asleep with my grandmother talking in her sleep, and the first thing I did in the morning was give her a kiss. It brought me so much stability and peace, that people love me just because they love me. »
His anger turned to benevolence. She works in communications for the Cree Board of Health and Social Services of James Bay and sits on the Council of Commissioners of the Cree School Board. She wants her journey to be an inspiration to young people who are going through hardships similar to hers.
His ambition to open the doors of the National Assembly is linked to his desire to bring in more altruism. This is to ensure that members of remote communities have access to adequate health care; that no one is condemned to homelessness due to lack of housing; that young people in his region have opportunities for study and employment in various fields; that the people of James Bay have access to public transit.
“We’ve been banging reforms and austerity measures for decades, and it’s not working. Can we bring back the notion of humanity in what we do? Now would be the time to try. »