Pheasant wants to be part of change already in the air

It isn’t Idle No More that convinced Karen Pheasant to seek a position on the Edmonton Public School Board, but Pheasant is convinced that the grassroots movement will get Aboriginal people out in record numbers to cast their votes.

“I’m inspired by the way political movement is going for people that have normally been left out,” she said.

Pheasant is running for trustee for Ward C in the upcoming election. To date, she is one of three contenders and the incumbent is not seeking re-election.

She is billed as the first Aboriginal person to run.

Lewis Cardinal, Pheasant’s political strategic advisor, is not surprised. “We’re still setting a lot of firsts in this city, not only for the city, but across Canada as well. Aboriginal people are a hundred years or so behind the ball and now we’re more integrated in the city – 70 per cent of Aboriginal people live in urban centres – and so we’re starting to understand the lay of the land and realizing if we really want to see changes we have to get our people in there to get to those tables.”

Edmonton Public has 80,000 students with over 10,000 being Aboriginal, and Edmonton boasts the second highest urban Aboriginal population in the country.

Pheasant says it is not only time for change, but that change is already happening. When she was asked to consider running by several trustees and a local MLA, she says she was assured she wouldn’t be a “token person there” on the board. Hitting the campaign trail has made her understand that even more: she has spoken to non-Aboriginal people who are open to understanding the situation Aboriginal people – and Aboriginal students – face.

“The discussions have been inspiring. Times have changed,” said Pheasant. “I truly believe … everybody can achieve and not just a small part of society.”

And when Pheasant refers to achievement, which she says is her priority, she means more than the easily-defined achievement.
“Because achievement comes in different ways. It doesn’t only come from the three Rs,” she said.

Pheasant has had a taste of what success can look like outside the box. For the past two years, she has been the APPLE school facilitator at Prince Charles school, in the inner city. Through APPLE, she promoted a healthy lifestyle for students and their families.

“I walked into (Prince Charles) with a tool box. They had a lot of the partnerships already established when I arrived,” she said.
Through programming at Prince Charles, Pheasant was exposed to the success students can have when those within the school work as a team alongside community agencies.

Collaboration, she says, is the best way to achieve success for students.

“There have been too many pieces of the pie,” she said. “I’m saying we need to collaborate and we need to have one big pot of soup and we all need to work together.”

Being in the classroom, staffroom and attending meetings with administrators has allowed Pheasant to understand the needs and concerns facing those in Edmonton Public schools.

Pheasant has been in education since 1996. This past year she completed her master degree in educational policy studies at the University of Alberta and this fall will begin her Ph.D. She has also been a faculty member at the Banff Centre and is a University of Lethbridge alumni. In Ontario, she taught at the elementary and secondary levels, as well as sitting as a trustee with her home reserve of Wikwemikong.

Pheasant’s experience is not limited to education. She has seen what people wanting change can accomplish through working on political campaigns both in Ontario and in the United States.
“What it told me is, if we just start voting and we become civically responsible, then change can happen,” she said.

Pheasant’s campaign team is comprised of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members, professionals and parents, and while she is still looking for more sponsorship dollars, she says the response for financial support has been good. She notes that often times it is money that keeps marginalized Aboriginal people from running for public office.

“She is definitely a well-qualified individual who can present the kind of leadership. We’re fairly certain we can take Ward C in the next election,” said Cardinal.

Voters go to the polls across the province for municipal and school board representatives on Oct. 21.