The Near North Board provided an update on Tuesday, May 21.
“It has come to our attention that there have been other Indigenous school board chairs, and we are proud to count [St. Pierre] among them.”
The Near North District School Board has a new chair.
Indigenous trustee Ashley St. Pierre was elected to the role at this week’s board meeting.
She takes over the position after serving as interim chair when Erika Lougheed resigned in April.
St. Pierre says it’s a meaningful election, as she becomes the first Anishinaabe woman to be elected chair of a board of education in Ontario.
She also says the Anishinaabe phrase ‘mino-bimaadiziwin’ means living in a good way and would like to see the Board moving forward in a good way and build trust with each other.
Parry Sound area trustee Howard Wesley was elected the new vice-chair.
