I have decided to share my email to @CdnRoots re: Max Fineday publicly because the concerns regarding the process of accountability from myself and other Indigenous women has not been addressed.

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I wear many hats but I am the co-founder and co-CEO of Assembly of Seven Generations (A7G). I was also a Special Advisor to Minister Carolyn Bennett from 2017-2019 and was one of the co-authors of the Roadmap on TRC Call to Action 66. 2/

Healthy community building and safety is so important to me. I've worked in many different Indigenous organizations and spaces since 2010. I've seen youth voices taken for granted and I've seen tokenism. 3/

I've seen large organizations dictate how youth $ would be spent even though the youth wanted to refuse the $. I've witnessed a lot and that is why we decided to create A7G in 2014. 4/

Since we started A7G, CRE was a natural partner. I attended National Youth Forums in 2015 and 2018. We helped with an Exchange between Ottawa and BC in 2015. We also worked with CRE on the first Ottawa Kuujjuaq exchange in 2016 and then a second one in 2017. 5/

We helped spread the word about CRE & always vouched for CRE. We told the community that CRE was a safe youth-friendly org. We also helped organize an exchange in 2019 with Ottawa to Fishing Lake. We never got $ for any of these exchgs & we often also carried the admin burden.
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In 2018 shortly after Max was hired as the ED of CRE, we sat down with him and his staff out of concerns of not seeing reciprocity in our work. We felt that we had been doing so much for CRE but we would see little in return. 7/

There was a huge power dynamic. CRE was natlly recognized, access to $ & was an established NGO. A7G has never had F/T staff or space to do our work in. We began to feel taken advantage of & like it was just implied that A7G would do free labour for CRE so we wrote up an MOU 8/

I met Max in 2015. We had great conversations & laughed. Honestly, I thought we were friends. I had no reason to believe otherwise. We would meet up for lunches & attend events together. Max would even give me S/Os on panels, descrb the work we do with A7G as "life-saving". 9/

I think these are often the most painful types of betrayal & abuse. It is also very scary to see how someone can lie so easily without any remorse.

In 2017, I was appointed as a Special Advisor to Minister Bennett and my colleagues and we said we wanted to work on TRC 66. 10/

We began work on TRC 66 in ceremony, ceremony led us through our research/writing. We heard from so many youth about the visions they have for themselves & their communities. It was hard work but it is work that I dedicated myself to bc of the young people that trusted me. 11/

We held many pipe ceremonies & sweats & some youth even went to eeyupee ceremonies to pray for our work. We also experienced the suicide of a youth that we began the work with, it was a reminder of how urgent and important TRC 66 is. 12/

The work on TRC 66 was very special and it was so much more than just a budget announcement or funding an organization. It was and still is about hope. 13/

Here is the Roadmap:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/599307a5f5e231b361442225/t/5c675b67e79c705013d3a8ae/1550277485617/FINAL+%282%29-+Indigenous+Youth+Voices+-+Roadmap+to+TRC+66+-+Compressed.pdf

In the summer of 2018, we delivered the Roadmap to Minister Bennett however she would not commit to anything at that time. In October 2018, we received a call from Bennett's staff asking if we felt ok with having CRE as the admin of the next phase of TRC 66. 14/

Because we had good relations so we said yes! Max was aware of the Roadmap however he had never attended a mtg or been involved in any aspects of the work. I would update him from time to time and he was always supportive but didn't show much interest in the work beyond that. 15/

Two weeks before the 2019 budget was about to drop, I received a call from Minister Bennett's assistant. She informed us that TRC 66 was going to be in the 2019 budget and that CRE would be the administrator. I was so excited! I called Max right away. 16/

I let Max know about the budget & he said he was not aware that TRC 66 would be in the budget w/ CRE but that he was also excited. We chatted about what the work could look like. He told me he was excited to continue working w/ me & on TRC 66. 17/

In 2017, we created 2 budgets because of pressure from Bennett's staff to cost out TRC 66 (keep in mind we have no background in costing federal budgets). We created a budget for the "interim work", we NEVER costed out TRC 66. 18/

We created 2 budgets that the feds called the low budget and the cadillac budget. The cadillac budget was for $15 million dollars over the course of 3 years. I have no doubt in my mind that the budget we created is where budget 2019 came from. 19/

2 weeks later, the budget was announced & it was announced that TRC 66 would receive $15 million dollars. I tried to contact Max right away but he told me he was in 'blackout" but he would call me ASAP. I never heard from him but I saw the press release from CRE go out. 20/

Not one mention of any of the work we had done or the Roadmap on TRC 66.

I texted Max and said "what is this?" and he finally called me and my colleague. I hate thinking about this.. I hope this is the last time I will need to talk about it or write about it. 21/

But he called us and he had us on speaker. The first thing he says is "Gabby, I don't like it when people assume". He carried on to say that there must be some confusion because the feds told him this was for CRE. 22/

He told us that the reason for the 2019 federal budget was because of his "2 years of lobbying the federal government". He even had the audacity to tell us "you got played". On that call, Max agreed to figure things out with us and the feds. 23/

We had a call w/ Bennett's staff about 3 weeks later. Max conveniently couldn't make it. On this call, they confirmed the 2019 Budget was the result of our work on TRC 66. They also told me: "thanks for all your work but CRE will take it from here". 24/

I have never heard from Max or CRE since. One of our mutual friends offered to mediate a convo btw us however Max never followed thru and ignored our friend's messages. I waited & I was silent for months. There were several attempts at resolution but Max turned them down. 25/

During the summer of 2019, we ended our MOU with CRE due to a breach of ethics and accountability. We received an email from staff at CRE saying "we will get back to you in a week". That was over a year ago. 26/43

This is the timeline of events but I want to let you know the impact this has had on my life and my well-being.

Trigger Warning. The next details involve suicidal ideations and near death experience. 27/

You have to understand that this work is my life. I have put my blood, sweat & tears into this work. My spirit & my ancestors are directly involved in the work that I do. I want to see better for youth. I do this work thru ceremony and not by myself but with the community. 28/

When CRE and Max betrayed me, it was a betrayal to all these things I stand for & to all the young people I have worked w/. The harm of this betrayal almost killed me.
After that phone call, I almost went into a diabetic coma. 29/

My blood sugar just dropped (I am type 1 diabetic). I remember being w/ my friend & I just fell apart. I started crying & hyperventilating. The only way I can describe it is like my heart and my spirit were just ripped out of me. 30/

I have a hard time breathing when I think about it. I completely blacked out. I woke up in my husband's car about an hour later with my friend & they were trying to revive me from my low blood sugar. I still hadn't caught my breath by then, my eyes were swollen from crying 31/

If my friend and my husband weren't there at that time, I wouldn't be alive today.

The next few days, weeks and months following all of this were very hard. I was so numb. I felt so used and taken advantage of. I felt so stupid. I felt disposable. 32/

I felt like I let all the youth who shared their stories w/ me down. I am a survivor of abuse, I have been gaslit & hv been made to doubt myself. As a youth, I attempted suicide & the weeks following this experience, I contemplated suicide for the 1st time in years 33/

This time was so devastating for me. Some days, I wouldn't even speak to my husband, I would just cry. I am over 7 years sober from drugs & alcohol, everyday is a struggle but this experience almost triggered me to relapse. This experience pushed me close to hurting myself. 34/

For a short time, I lost all hope and I was in some much pain.

Thankfully, I survived. I have gone to many therapy sessions which have been really helpful. Medicine people have doctored me and prayed for me. 35/

I received a lot of love and care but I also recognize that by focusing on my mental health, it took time and energy away from other things that could have happened in community. 36/

You have to understand that when you harm 1 Indigenous woman, you harm her family, her loved ones & her community too. Going thru all of these emotions again is very time consuming & triggering. But I want you to know how harmful your former ED and organization has been 37/

Stealing the hard work of Indigenous women to make a profit is exploitation and abuse.

It's been over a year and I am very disappointed with the lack of work being done on TRC 66. TRC 66 is a lifeline for many of us, it is hope. 38/

Regardless of everything that has happened, I still believe in TRC 66 and believe that if it was honoured it would be a mechanism to support healthy community building and it would be a preventative measure in breaking the harmful cycles of abuse of colonization. 39/

I watched as CRE turned TRC 66's "multi-year funding for Indigenous youth and grassroots" into microgrants. I watched as CRE turned "research of colonial systems of oppression" into researching over researched Indigenous communities and youth. 40/

I watched as CRE turned "capacity building for TRC 66" into making an empire for Max Fineday. I hoped & wished that CRE would've read the Roadmap. I hoped that even though I was cut out of the work that it would still continue.. I'm still waiting to see TRC 66 happen. 41/

When CRE and Max betrayed me and the work on TRC 66, opportunities for Indigenous youth & grassroots programming were impacted the most. This was a huge missed opportunity for communities. 42/

I have not heard back from CRE regarding the process of accountability so I will be sharing this letter publicly as well. I'm not sure how you will be moving forward but I know that it will be hard and I hope CRE is willing to put in the work. 43/43