50 episodes of Ellected! And what an episode to share to mark the milestone - a conversation with the Premier of the North West Territories Caroline Cochrane.
In this episode of Ellected, Premier Cochrane shares some very personal stories of her youth including be homeless as a teenager and young mother with a grade nine education. Premier Cochrane is very deliberate and intentional in her actions and her advocacy to see more people, more women, more Indigenous people, more improvised people in politics because, as you hear often on Ellected, it matters who is at the decision making tables because they will bring all of their experiences with them and that means better decision making. This episode left me feeling inspired, challenged and optimistic and I hope it does the same for you.
More about Premier Caroline Cochrane:
Caroline Cochrane was re-elected to the 19th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly representing the constituency of Range Lake. Ms. Cochrane was first elected to the 18th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in 2015. During the 18th Assembly, Ms. Cochrane was also elected as a Member of Cabinet and held the positions of Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, Minister of Public Works and Services, Minister Responsible for Addressing Homelessness, and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. After a Cabinet shuffle on April 4, 2018, Ms. Cochrane was appointed as the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, and retained the portfolio as Minister Responsible for the Status of Women. Ms. Cochrane was also a member of the Special Committee to Increase the Representation of Women in the Legislative Assembly.
Ms. Cochrane is especially proud of her work, through successful engagement with residents, to restructuring the philosophies, policies, and programs of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation into attaining overall goals to assist residents to obtain, retain, and maintain their homes. As well, Minister Cochrane led the work to begin the implementation of the first 9-1-1 service in the NWT and continues to lead the Campaign Schools for Women to promote and support women being elected to all levels of government.
Ms. Cochrane is of Métis descent, holds a degree in Social Work, and has twenty years’ experience in administration and direct service provision within accredited agencies that support high risk families. She has developed and facilitated workshops on topics related to parenting, child development, a variety of “train the trainer” and facilitation/service provisions. She has also trained community health workers to conduct developmental assessments for children.
Ms. Cochrane and her partner, Rory, have a blended family of adult children and one grandchild. They look forward to their future generations enjoying the benefits the north has provided to them both. She is excited to be able to work towards ensuring a healthy, prosperous, sustainable future for the generations to come.
More about Sarah Elder-Chamanara:
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director, designer and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist, political and activist clothing company and community based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Sarah and Madame Premier create opportunities for conversations about how politics works, why it needs to change, who it needs to change for and how the time for that is now.