Meet Senator Gwen Lindsay

I am a proud Metis from the lineage of Gendron/Boucher/de la Ronde, and am therefore, a descendant of the establishment of Penetanguishene from Drummond Island.

Like so many, I did not know that I was Metis.  I lived in the tiny mining village of Bourlamaque, Quebec, now a historical site, “La Cite de l’ Or”, adjacent to Val d’or.  It is primarily a French community, but there are English speaking people there as well.  Every week our house was filled with square dancing and laughter.  Every house in the village was constructed of logs, and when the good weather came, around the end of May, we moved into the bush, into the one room cabin, that my father and mother built from logs on our land.  We had a large double log bunk bed.  My brother, my sister, and I slept on the top, my parents on the bottom, and we could see the lovely Lac Blouin , with its ducks and even moose. My brother, under the watchful eye of my father, rode on the hind end of the moose.  My dad placed him there from the boat while the moose swam across the lake.  A short ride, but, we all watched in awe as my brother, around 8, enjoyed this adventure.

We drank from spring water, ate plenty of fish and blueberries and loved it. Snakes, salamanders, crayfish were our friends. I learned to shoot a gun when I was six, and also learned that when dad said something you listened.  The first lesson in firearm safety.  during the winter, we travelled by dog team.  I can still remember the sting in my face.

I met my grandmother, Mae Gendron, when I was around 12, for the first time.  We had moved to Port Credit, and I hated it.  I felt that I was in culture shock…and I was.  So many people, no snow, no bush.  But I learned to transition.  It was obvious that Grandma was of darker complexion, as well as my aunts and uncles.  Still my father didn’t identify as Metis.  I knew that we were “native” something, but never got a clear answer.

It was here that I learned that I loved music.  My parents sacrificed so that I could have a piano and lessons.  The piano was my favourite activity and consequently taught piano for a number of years.  We were not a family of wealth.  We had one bedroom in our tiny house, a bedroom for my two sisters and me, and for a while, my brother.  My father eventually built a room for my brother, but my parents only had a pull-out couch throughout the entirety of their marriage.

I was very fortunate to meet my husband who had also grown up in the bush. He was a hunter, firefighter, commercial diver, a miner in Elliot Lake – definitely an outdoor man.  We have two strong Metis sons, and three grandchildren.

We ended up being Specialized Treatment Foster Parents to a large number of youth, primarily teenage boys for 40 years.  We also worked with a few girls.  This challenging work taught us to deal with behavioural, and mental health issues.  This type of work led us to being Pastors, which involved much counselling, some prison work, and lots of music.  I had the privilege of being Worship leader for Women Aglow of Canada, travelling to different parts of Canada, California, and Arizona, where I represented Canada in an international choir.  Women Aglow is an international organization focused on helping women of all backgrounds.  I had the privilege of praying over every provincial flag of Canada, and over women representing the First Nations in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  It was a very humbling and privileged opportunity.

My heart is definitely for the family.  I have been the Child Welfare Advisory Circle Representative since 2017.  I long to see our Metis children returned to our community from the CAS.  I look forward to the return of our culture and language.  I believe that our Metis families could in a very natural way model the Metis lifestyle to our children.  It may not happen quickly, but it is something that needs to happen.

I am pleased to be Senator, a position that I consider a privilege.  I can be reached at gwendlindsay@rogers.com.