Moosomin First Nation man inducted as Knight to Order of Saint George

The OStG is primarily a military organization and LaPlante is one of the few civilian inductees to the order.

“I was one of the very few, I couldn’t find any others who were civilians that had really nothing to do directly with the Canadian armed forces in some capacity,” LaPlante said.

“My role is basically inter-governmental relations and I support them when they try to initiate some type of initiatives that involve indigenous peoples or organizations. To my knowledge, this is the first time ever where [the OStG] had an indigenous relations component to it,” he added.

LaPlante’s family has a history of working toward the betterment of Canada accepted the induction on their behalf.

“[I am] honoured and welcome the investiture on behalf of my great grandfathers, Antoine Xavier LaPlante, Louis Leveille and their brothers and sons, all of whom were arguably the original peace keepers/makers during the settlement of Canada’s prairie provinces,” he said.

Gary’s forefathers were Plains Métis scouts and couriers for the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), who often acted as intermediaries between the Indigenous plains tribes and the European settlers. They guided the NWMP on the March West in 1874, which was in response to the Cypress Hills massacre and the Canadian government’s fears of military intervention by the United States.

In 1876, they were the original intermediaries between Major James Morrow Walsh of the NWMP and the prominent Sioux leader, Sitting Bull, who led thousands of his people to take refuge in Canada after the Battle of Little Bighorn.

Following in his family’s footsteps, LaPlante has worked tirelessly towards the betterment of Canada. He is an advocate for the equitable participation of Indigenous peoples in the public and private sectors.

He has extensive board governance experience with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations’ Indian Government Commission, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority and the First Nations University of Canada.

LaPlante also worked in the media industry as a publisher of three Indigenous newspapers, including the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan’s New Breed Journal for which he was named a member of the National Aboriginal Communications Society.

He also participated in the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Developement in Rio de Janeiro as a member of the Government of Canada’s supported NGOs.

LaPlante said he is proud of his work on behalf of his ancestors toward reconciliation and restorative justice for Stoney Knoll First Nation of Treaty 6 and dedication to his First Nation, Moosomin.

LaPlante said he was humbled to be inducted to the order and will continue his efforts to improve relationships between all Canadians.

“It is a great honour. We have our challenges with indigenous relations, inter-governmental relations and some challenges around race relations. As far as I’m concerned we are all Canadians, and I’m a proud Canadian and I want to contribute towards the betterment of Canada. If that includes my role of trying to better race and inter-governmental relations I will do whatever I can. I try to keep it simple and say ‘Let’s all work towards being good neighbours,’” he said.

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Keaton.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow

by Keaton Brown

Moosomin First Nation man inducted as Knight to Order of Saint George

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