Richmond NDP Candidate Hopes to See More Mi'kmaq, LGBTQIA Representation in Province House

ARICHAT - Bryson Syliboy doesn't see many people who look or act like him when he looks at political leadership in Nova Scotia, and he's hoping his NDP campaign for the riding of Richmond will help to change that. 

Syliboy, 40, grew up in Shubenacadie First Nation and was one of several family members to learn first-hand the harsh reality of racism and discrimination and the horrors of Canada's residential school system. His mother and several of his aunts and uncles were among Nova Scotia's residential school survivors, while Syliboy himself was forced into what was known at the time as the Indian Day School program. 

A resident of Port Hawkesbury for the past nine years, Syliboy recently made headlines for launching a successful campaign to have Canadian and Nova Scotian flags lowered at municipal buildings across the province, following the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the residential school site in Kamloops, B.C. Syliboy personally joined Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton for the lowering of flags outside of the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on May 31. 

Syliboy is one of only two Mi'kmaq candidates in the 2021 provincial election. The other, Nadine Bernard of Eskasoni, is running for the Liberal Party in Victoria, also a Cape Breton riding.

While he says "it hits home" to be campaigning during the same period of the discoveries of remains at Canada's residential schools, Syliboy is also hoping to raise the profile of Nova Scotia's LGBTQIA community. Syliboy, who spoke at the inaugural Strait Area Pride Rally in 2020 and participated in TELILE 24/7's first-ever Pride Panel days earlier, is Two-Spirit, which is the recognized indigenous designation for those who fall within LGBTQIA classification. 

"To be openly gay and proud to be gay, our queer youth really need to see it, especially here in rural settings," Syliboy insisted.