Abstract
Ethel Blondin was born in Fort Norman, Northwest Territories, and is fluent in two languages: English and Slavey. She has been a teacher, a teachers’ instructor, a language program specialist, a manager and acting director for the Public Service Commission of Canada, Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture and Communications for the Territorial Government, and is presently Member-of-Parliament for the Western Arctic. Ms Blondin is one of only three aboriginal members-of-parliament in Ottawa. She is also a single mother of three now—grown children.
Since becoming a member—of—parliament, Ethel Blondin has sponsored a new bill for the establishment of a Foundation of Aboriginal Languages, and she has travelled across the country in her role as the Official Opposition Critic for Aboriginal Affairs. Ms Blondin is in a unique position to discuss the Canadian North, as she is the elected spokesperson for the people residing in the Western half of the Northwest Territories. In this interview, from her office in Ottawa, she discusses issues of current concern to her constituency, issues of current concern to aboriginal peoples both in her constituency and in Canada, and how aborginal peoples are taking action to address their concerns.