Hear from 3 Indigenous candidates heading into the 2021 election

The family lineage of many Newfoundlanders can be traced back to white, European ancestors. While the same applies to most candidates in the upcoming provincial election, it's not true for all of them.

CBC News spoke with three Indigenous candidates in the 2021 election Noel Joe, the NDP candidate for Fortune Bay- Cape La Hune; Lisa Dempster,the Liberal candidate for Cartwright-L'Anse au Clair; Lela Evans, the PC candidate for TorngatMountains candidate Lela Evans about their backgrounds, what it brings to their campaigns, and what concerns they are hearing from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous voters.

The conversations have been edited for length and clarity.

How has being Indigenous shaped your life and your decision to enter politics?

Noel Joe:"Being Mi'kmaq and being from Conne River, I think that shaped where I am now today. Being proud of our history and where we come from, we're a resilient people. Just being proud of our culture, our traditions. That really installed in me at a younger age, and I just kept that with me. I carried them close to my heart, and that's where I am today."

Lisa Dempster: "Where I was born and raised in my Indigenous ancestry has everything to do with who I am today. I grew up in a remote area, more than remote, completely isolated. We didn't have a road until 2001. I stepped up in public life because I saw the inadequacies all around me. Two things: I saw Labrador being left behind and many times I saw decisions being made without an Indigenous lens applied.

"When you ask me how it shaped me, you know, we have to change attitudes and that is a long-term thing. But I can tell you that I've been driven to be a part of that, you know, I'mthe first individual in our province to be given a title that has a reconciliation in it: the minister for Indigenous affairs and reconciliation.I'll be forever truly humbled by that."

Lela Evans: "It's had a huge influence on my life. When you're growing up, you don't actually realize it because it's just a part of yourday-to-day being. That's just one thing I grew up with. But basically my grandmother's children and that generation, they actually all went to residential school where they were taught in English. So a lot of people that normally would be speaking Inuktitut now in the community don't.

"I wouldn'tbe able to answer that question in that way if I wasn't born and raised in an Indigenous community that listened to, you know, my my relatives speakInuktitutand practisethe traditions and the culture. And that's what's important, is making sure that future generations have that experience.

"It's hard to be Indigenous when you have people who are pretending to be Indigenous and actually impacting decisions that hurt Indigenous people because your voice is accepted. And that's something people have said to me:'Lela,no matter what you do, speak up, because the truth has to be said, even if they don't listen and even if they discredit you.' Since I've become a politician,I can't believe how bad things are. And also I can't believe how unjust the political system is to my people. It's not right."

All of you are running in districts with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous voters. Are concerns from Indigenous voters different than non-Indigenous voters?

Joe:They're about the same. When it comes to provincial issues such as the Bay D'espoir road that's connected to Conne River. Everything comes down to Conne River with that road. We're so connected we're connected by the road, the sea and the air. That all has effect to the people here in the district of Fortune Bay."

Dempster: "Yes, sometimes.I'm born and raised in an Indigenous community in Labrador, but I have married a guy from the island portion of the province non-Indigenous, and we have much, much, much of that. And so they are learning every day and they see through things because of our experiences. But there's varying degrees of that, I will say.I'm a big advocate for having both Indigenous and non-Indigenous at the table. It's about people coming together and respecting each other."

Evans:"When I travel to St John's, I'm always educating. Whatever I say is educating people, because people who have not lived on the north coast or have not spent time on the north coast in the six Indigenous communities, Inuit and Innu, they they don't understand. But the problemis they don't know the facts. I'm always on education mode. I'm always educating people. And I'm really shocked, like even in the House of Assembly, the perceptions and the impressions that people have,the misinformation that's out there."

What are key issues you're hearing on the doorsteps of your districts?

Joe:"Working with government, and being able to manoeuvre and go through those issues that Conne River has with the provincial government. And trying to navigate the system, helping them navigate through that system in government. Being able to provide a good voice in the House of Assemblyfor Conne River and that area. That's what I'm looking at trying to achieve here."

Dempster: "In my southern portion, where there is less Indigenous people, you know, it's mainly infrastructure issues. Health care is big.And as you go further north the issues are you move into more social issues and the supports that are needed there. There's still the infrastructure needs. There's a lot of social issues and there's intergenerational trauma. There's more child welfare issues. So it's about getting in and changing some of those things."

Evans:"When you look at my district, the six communities, you know, we are so far behind in terms of services andin terms of supports, just access to medical care. Most of the people on the north coast can't travel to see their parents or grandparents in nursing homes. And that's because [of] the cost of transportation and the bureaucracy and the colonialism that prevented us from getting road access. Now that everywhere else in Labrador has got access, that's the impact, the impact on the price of food. It really puts a lot of stress on me to be that voice."

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