WIIKWEMKOONG—Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown vowed to reach out to communities across the spectrum of Ontario’s population when he visited Manitoulin during his leadership bid, and with a historic visit to Wiikwemkoong last week he certainly appears to be following up on that commitment.
The visit was historic in the sense that, as far as anyone has been able to ascertain, he is the very first leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario to visit Manitoulin’s largest community, the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territories.
“I met with the band council of Wiikwemkoong at Queen’s Park, they invited me to come, they said they had never had a Progressive Conservative leader here before,” he said. “I wanted to show them my eagerness to work together to find collaborative solutions to some of the challenges they face here. And frankly, you show up and you listen.”
Mr. Brown said that he learned a lot in his visit to the community that included meeting with health officials and members of the nursing staff at the Wiikwemkoong Nursing Home.
“It makes a big difference in hearing some of the funding shortages in mental health, the challenges in long term care, I want to see how I can help.”
Mr. Brown and Ogimaa Duke Peltier spent some time in a one-on-one meeting where the Wiikwemkoong chief had a frank and productive meeting with the Progressive Conservative leader.
“We invited him to come and hear about First Nations’ issues first hand,” said Ogimaa Peltier. “He has committed to advocating for change within government policies that exist. He offered his support in making community issues front and centre.”
In addition to touring the Wiikwemkoong Health Centre and the Wiikwemkoong Nursing Home, Mr. Brown and his entourage took their bus on a short tour of the Village of Wiikwemkoong before heading out for a visit to Sudbury.
The Progressive Conservative leader has visited Manitoulin Island before, once as a candidate for the leadership of his party and again following his upset win over establishment favourite Christine Elliott. In his last visit, Mr. Brown toured the Little Current Fish and Game Club facilities in Sheguiandah and held a reception for party faithful at the Manitoulin East Municipal Airport before boarding a plane.
