Beatty Makes First Legislature Speech

Beatty Makes First Legislature Speech

Thursday, March 25, 2004 at 15:38

Cumberland MLA Joan Beatty made her first official speech in the provincial legislature earlier this week.

Beatty gave her maiden speech on Tuesday and touched on a number of areas, including where her department will focus its efforts over the coming years.

As minister responsible for Culture, Youth and Recreation, she says the department must offer more resources to Aboriginal youth — particularly in the North.

Much has been made of the fact that Beatty is not only the first Aboriginal woman to be elected an MLA, but is also the first First Nations citizen to hold a seat in the legislature.

To underscore that point, Beatty says she made sure part of her speech was spoken in Cree.

Beatty also paid tribute to former MLAs that blazed the trail on behalf of northern Aboriginal people — including Lawrence Yew and Keith Goulet.