Mainville appointed to AFN

Nick Mainville Jr., currently one of the two representatives for the Grand Council Treaty #3 area, recently was appointed by the Ontario First Nations Young People Council to be a representative on the Assembly of First Nations’ National Young People Council.
On top of his current duties, Mainville now is mandated to act as a liaison between the provincial council and the national one for the next year.
There are, in all, just two representatives for the whole of Ontario and Mainville feels honoured to be given the appointment.
“It was actually kind of weird,” he recalled. “My first meeting with the [Assembly of First Nations], they were holding their elections for two chairpersons and two executive members.
“I only knew a couple of people there and yet they elected me into an executive position right away,” he added, admitted to be totally in shock and awe.
“It’s a strong and overwhelming mandate for myself to fulfill over the next year . . . it is an honour,” he remarked.
In this position, Mainville will use advocacy and equality to influence the direction of the Assembly of First Nations in order to create opportunities for development and empowerment for the youth and the future of all generations.
“[The youth] are the ones that have to continue our legacy through maintaining and practising our cultures, our traditions, our ceremonies,” he stressed.
“We are pretty much passing the torch on to them. . . . We are instilling the youth with our values, our traditions, and cultures in hopes that they will pass it on to their youth and to the generations to come,” he explained.
Mainville is pleased he now will represent “a unified voice on behalf of the grassroots First Nations’ youth.”