On November 13, 2024, Laanas Tamara Davidson made history as the first Haida woman elected to the BC Legislature. Describing the ceremony as both solemn and joyful, Davidson was drummed in by Haida community members Cohen Bradley and Donnie Edenshaw and accompanied by Lucy Bell, who carried a copper shield crafted by Haida artist Wiigaanad (Sid Crosby), which acted as an affirmation and a witness to the work.

“At first it felt very solemn, it felt like the responsibility of all the people that I will be representing, the responsibility of caring for all of those people. It’s a big responsibility and it really hit me just before we walked into the legislature,” Davidson shared. “And then I felt really honored, really proud and really happy, and it felt really good.”

Building on a decades-long career in the public service, which included serving as an elected representative on the Council of the Haida Nation for three years and working as a negotiator for the Haida Nation’s historic Title Recognition Act with the province, Davidson said running for a seat in the legislature was a natural next step.

“It was a natural thing after 28 years in the public service, and my experience with the Council of the Haida Nation and as part of the negotiating team for Haida Title. I worked very closely with a lot of the provincial ministers, and when MLA Melanie Mark stepped down there was a question if I was willing to step forward at that time, but it wasn’t quite the right time,” said Davidson. “However, MLA Jennifer Rice and I have been friends for many years, and when she made the decision that she wasn’t going to run for re-election she supported me in the nomination period for the NDP candidate.”

 

Historic Legislature for Women

Indeed, this is a historic legislature for women, and for Indigenous women in particular. For the first time women make up the majority of MLAs, and this includes three Indigenous women from the NDP – Joan Phillips (Vancouver-Mount Pleasant), Debra Toporowski (Cowichan Valley), and Davidson as well as Á’a:líya (A’aliya) Warbus for Chilliwack – Cultus Lake, who is from the Stó:lō Nation representing the BC Conservative Party. Davidson credits the NDP’s policy of requiring that women candidates replace women incumbents if the incumbent decides to step down.

“I am the first Haida woman and the first Indigenous woman to hold this riding, and this policy really helps to open the door for more women,” said Davidson. “It felt really good to bring my 83-year-old mother to the ceremony. She was a single mom; she helped raise me and guide me and taught me so much to get me where I am.”

North Coast-Hadia Gwaii is a diverse and complicated riding, containing a multitude of challenges and opportunities that are not lost on Davidson. As a Haida citizen, Davidson says she is looking forward to bringing an Indigenous perspective to the work she’ll do in the legislature, something she says will benefit both the NDP and the province.

“We’ve already had discussions at the party level about how to bring an Indigenous perspective into party politics,” said Davidson. “In our traditions and cultures, the systems are different, so we are already talking about how to align those systems with the party system. It is going to be really interesting work, and I’m grateful for my fellow Indigenous MLAs to help with this work.”

Serving her Communities

During her campaign Davidson said she heard from a wide swath of residents and visited dozens of communities, but common themes emerged throughout the region, giving Davidson and strong foundation to begin her term.

“The top priorities that I heard on the doorsteps everywhere I went to was health care. Ensuring that people have family doctors, that they have access to family practitioners, ensuring that they can take care of their family members, and keeping their emergency rooms open,” said Davidson. “I would also say housing. On the North and Central Coast, it’s super important to have safe housing, especially for women and children. We’ll be looking at different projects and it’s been great to bring that rural perspective to caucus and say how impactful some of these initiatives are.”

Davidson also said infrastructure was top of mind, with the NDP having signed off on a resource benefits agreement in July 2024 with the Northwest BC Resource Benefits Alliance. The agreement allocates $250 million in funding over five years to 21 local governments to build and support accessible communities.

“It’s been great. I met with the Village of Masset, and they talked about the projects they’ve been able to do such as paving the roads,” said Davidson. “They said it’s been a game changer for them.”

As Davidson embarks on this new challenge, she says she is both grateful and humbled by the opportunity to serve the people and the communities of the northwest.

“I’d like to say thank you so much for supporting me to get here,” she said. “I’m here to listen and to understand the perspectives of our communities. My door is open, and I am here to help as best I can.”

Top image caption: MLA Laanas Tamara Davidson seated in front of Premier David Eby, Legislative Assembly Kate Ryan-Lloyd (far right) and Lucy Bell, who is holding the copper shield created by Haida artist Wiigaanad (Sid Crosby). Photo: Kevin Light.