OTTAWA — As the first Indigenous person ever to lead the federal department responsible for delivering services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Mandy Gull-Masty knows she has a daunting task ahead.
But the newly-appointed Indigenous services minister also knows what it's like to sit at both sides of the table — as a cabinet minister now and, until recently, as the grand chief of the political body representing 20,000 Cree people in northern Quebec.
"I know the importance of — what the value is — when people come here to ask," the rookie MP told The Canadian Press Thursday from behind a desk still free of paperwork in her new downtown Ottawa office.
"And I think that's really important, especially for a lot of the big files that are in challenging places right now."
Gull-Masty inherits a series of outstanding files from outgoing minister Patty Hajdu, who had served in the role since 2021. They include reforming the First Nations child welfare system and ensuring communities have access to clean drinking water and working infrastructure.
While Hajdu was known for having a good working relationship with Indigenous communities, some Indigenous leaders — frustrated with the slow pace of change in the Crown-Indigenous relationship — accused her of doing too little to build consensus on those files.
"I personally, as an Indigenous person, felt that I was handed probably one of the toughest tasks because all eyes are on the first Indigenous person to do the role," Gull-Masty said. "The expectation is going to be very high."
When asked how she'll handle saying "no" to Indigenous leaders she worked with so recently, Gull-Masty replied with a question of her own.
"What makes you think I haven't already said no in my relationships?" she said. "I mean, that's part of it.
"A relationship is an exchange, and sometimes in that exchange there are things that move forward and there are things that aren't … I feel I've kind of cut my teeth as grand chief. I spent a lot of (time) also being a client of this department. So I feel I'm able to understand where are those barriers, where are those challenges that I can seek to lift."
While Gull-Masty's appointment to the ministry made history, she wasn't the first Indigenous person to be offered the job.
Former federal justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, a member of the We Wai Kai Nation, was offered the Indigenous services ministry by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau but turned it down because she would have had to administer programs under the Indian Act — legislation she has opposed throughout her career.
Indigenous leaders at the time said Trudeau's proposal to move her to Indigenous services was inappropriate, given the outsized control the federal government has over Indigenous Peoples and communities.
Six years later, Indigenous policy experts say they're optimistic about Gull-Masty's appointment, even as they work through what it means to have an Indigenous woman leading the department.
Hayden King, the executive director of the Yellowhead Institute, said that while Gull-Masty already has one of the most difficult jobs in the federal government, her identity as a Cree woman takes it to "the next level."
"The sheer volume of pressing issues that have to be addressed by (Indigenous Services Canada) is going to be overwhelming, and now that responsibility is going to fall on an Indigenous person — a Cree woman. And in some ways, that is sort of the zenith of reconciliation," King said.
"Because now cabinet (and) the prime minister is going to be able to say, 'Well this is the person that's responsible for our inaction. This is the person that's responsible for our failure. Look, it's another Indigenous person …' It becomes a bit of a pawn, or even an alibi, for the federal government."
Veldon Coburn, an academic with McGill University's Indigenous Relations Initiative, worked alongside Gull-Masty while she served as grand chief for the Grand Council of the Crees. He praised the work she did to help improve the lives of the people and communities she represented.
But "the machinery of government moves at a glacial pace," Coburn said, adding he wonders how community leaders will react when challenges arise for Gull-Masty.
"We could say some harsh things to whoever occupies that position, but now on the receiving end is one of our own," he said.
"And it happens to be a very strong Indigenous woman who can't shout back, because normally we would be sitting on the same floor with Mandy … I cringe at the prospect that an Indigenous person has to say no to other Indigenous people, and what backlash that might drop.
"It's a fraught relationship. It's never been one that has been very amicable."
Gull-Masty said that, having grown up as a Cree-speaking "rez kid," she understands some of the frustrations and realities of living in an Indigenous community.
And while most of her cabinet colleagues don't share that lived experience, she said she needs them "to want to work with me, to be creative.
"I'm very open. I like to explore opportunities, I like to push boundaries," she said.
Gull-Masty said she has formed a "trifecta" with new Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand to collaborate and bring issues forward to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
"I need to feel their support, not only from the government side, but from the side of the people that I'm going to offer services to," she said. "And for me to do a good job, I need to be covered in their blessings, their relations, to be guided by their elders, by understanding what their youth want.
"Because their priority — my priority — is to build their next generations in the services that I offer."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
