About

Lorraine is the Aboriginal Affairs Critic for the Green Party of Canada.  She is the nominated candidate for the Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapusksasing riding.  She ran in the 2008 federal election.

Lorraine Rekmans was born at Elliot Lake, Ontario.  She is of Anishnabe-French descent and is a member of the Serpent River First Nation.  She has been a long time advocate for environmental and social justice issues throughout her career in both the media and in non-governmental organizations.  She attended the World Uranium Hearing at Salzburg, Austria as a witness and assisted in writing a number of international declarations dealing with both uranium and forestry.

Lorraine is the former Executive Director of the National Aboriginal Forestry Association (NAFA) where she worked on national and international forest policy.   NAFA was instrumental in organizing a forum at the World Forestry Congress in Quebec, QC in 2003.

Lorraine has a background in journalism and published an Aboriginal newspaper in northern Ontario and has also worked as a reporter at the Elliot Lake Standard.  She has extensive experience in policy development working with Aboriginal organizations, government, industry and the public.

Lorraine has extensive experience in forestry and mining and advocates for sustainable use of renewable resources.  She is the co-editor of This Is My Homeland, a book which captures the experiences of members of the Serpent River First Nation and the impact on their lives from uranium mining at Elliot Lake.

Lorraine was instrumental in developing a number of natural resource development initiatives in northern Ontario, including establishing a forestry enterprise and securing a crown timber license.  Before moving to Ottawa she spent several years working on regional and provincial forestry issues.

Lorraine was involved in developing the first Aboriginal owned forestry marketing co-operative in Canada and has supported sustainable non-timber forest product development in northern Ontario through organizing research, writing, advocacy and regional and national conferences.