Hon. Judy A. White: Honourable senators, I rise today to celebrate First Light’s fortieth anniversary.

First Light was established in 1983 with the aim of providing a culturally informed community space to support urban Indigenous people living in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Since then, the organization has successfully grown to six locations across the city with over 80 employees.

First Light provides community members with integral services in four core areas: community planning, social supports and housing, social enterprise and operations, and research and advocacy. Through many social enterprises, it also provides services specific to medical transportation and accommodation, cultural diversity training, affordable housing, artist resources, and child care. Programs and services are free for community members to access, with transportation, child care and other considerations taken into account to encourage high levels of participation and access.

As First Light continues to expand as an organization, let me highlight some of their ongoing endeavours.

To amplify urban Indigenous voices, First Light has grown its research and advocacy capacity in recent years and is increasingly providing policy advice to all levels of government to support the implementation of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or TRC; the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, or MMIWG; and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or UNDRIP.

In 2019, First Light launched the urban Indigenous coalition known as First Voice, in collaboration with 11 other organizations. Coinciding with First Light’s fortieth anniversary, First Voice put forward a community action plan to advance truth and reconciliation in St. John’s while supporting similar efforts across our province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Last week, Senator Francis and I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives from the National Association of Friendship Centres, including First Light. It was truly inspiring to discuss the essential services they provide, their resilience as an organization and the many reasons why it is so critical that we continue to support their work.

I want to take this opportunity to thank First Light for their incredible work and invaluable contributions over the last 40 years.

Thank you. Wela’lioq.