L'nuey and Parks Canada seek board members to co-manage protected lands, historic sites

The First Nations group L'nuey and Parks Canada are looking for board members to help co-manage P.E.I.'s protected lands and historic sites, taking the next step on an agreement they have spent years crafting.

"The agreements were signed and negotiated over many years. I believe the negotiations started even way back in the early 2000s," said Geraldine Arsenault, the field unit superintendant for Parks Canada on Prince Edward Island.

"These agreements for both the new national park reserve and for the Toquktmekl agreement, these agreements were both signed at different moments in 2024."

The new boards will consist of five members, including two selected by L'nuey and two chosen by Parks Canada. The fifth, who will chair, will be appointed by the board members.

"Now we're at the phase of implementation of these agreements, and the first part of that implementation is to form the boards themselves, so that they can advise on the governance of these places," said Arsenault.

The boards will oversee places like Pituamkek National Park Reserve off P.E.I.'s North Shore and national historic sites such as Province House in Charlottetown, Cavendish-North Rustico and the working inn at Dalvay-by-the-Sea.

Jenene Wooldridge is the executive director of L'nuey, an organization focused on Indigenous rights for the Mi'kmaq community on P.E.I.

"We advance and protect Mi'kmaq rights, and we focus on the areas of governance development, all negotiations and consultations for the Mi'kmaq," she said.

"L'nuey is proud to be able to support the Mi'kmaq leadership over the past number of years. They have been steadfast in making sure that these agreements come to fruition and that we are able to now get into the implementation phase."

Arsenault said reconciliation has been very important for Parks Canada.

"We've been working for a very long time with the Mi'kmaq of Prince Edward Island to really bring in the Mi'kmaw perspective to how we manage our national historic sites and our national park," she said.

"And now with the new national park reserve Pituamkek, it really brings a piece of Mi'kmaw traditional lands into the family, if you will, of protected sites."

Wooldridge said the boards will have different priorities.

"Pituamkek is a brand-new national park reserve, so it's really building it from the ground up. It's going to be looking at what the potential visitor experience could look like, where are their protected sites, that wouldn't be so good for visitors or lots of people being around," she said.