Mike Waltz, Poilievre, Social Media, Employers & The Upcoming Storm

Hello, you super duper double delicious person you. I have so much to share with you that I have papers that I printed out. Forget index card, it's just not going to work today. How you doing? How you doing? Scale of 1 to 10, you hanging in there. You with me as we trying to figure out our self care game and how we can make this better. I get you, I hear you. I, I, I know, I get it, I get it. You know what I decided today? I think I'm going to get way better at sighing just the as I hear the latest bit of news. And for those of you who think that watching us election it's separate, we're a different country, it's not going to affect us. Well, I have no idea why my camera keeps resetting. That's just weird. But as I was saying, if you think that US politics has nothing to with us, well, US politics thinks it has something to do with us. So I'm going to comment on that today. I have so many things I want to comment today. I have a suggestion for you to try on social media and I think I have these in the wrong order. Something to keep in mind when you're on social media. And last but not least, I have a bit of advice information for employers, especially if you're hiring Indigenous DEI people. Diversity, equity, inclusion. So we got a lot to talk about. So let's talk about it. Hi everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And for 15 years I've been involved with everything Indigenous Canadian reconciliation, affiliation, keynote speeches, workshops, seminars in First Nation communities, in Canadian business and nonprofit, in corporations and universities and hospitals. Where I'm needed, I'm there. And what I bring to the table, I guess I'm known for two things. One is creating safe spaces where it's okay to say I don't understand. I don't understand why when we do this it upsets Indigenous people. I don't understand when Indigenous people people say this, what it even means. So I create that safe space. And the other thing is I bring a different perspective to the table. My entire this playlist is called Through Indigenous Eyes. And I help Canadian entities understand what that poster looks like to us, what that land acknowledgment sounds like to us, what that policy looks like to us. When we have greater understanding, we can actually work together. Together. And the storm is coming as I mentioned yesterday. Now I should mention I have been doing this for 15 years. But before this I worked in nonprofit management. Federal nonprofit. So we were funded by the federal government, which means I am well aware of the political parties and what they believe in and what their history is. As an Indigenous person, being political isn't even a choice. Being Indigenous is political. So it's something that you can try to hide from or you can embrace it. And because I was federally funded or the agency I ran was, you learn to embrace it as an Indigenous person. You also learn pretty quickly which parties are supportive of Indigenous needs and initiatives and helping us overcome Canadian history. Not Indigenous history, Canadian history. And which parties aren't. And it's fact that the Progressive Service, Progressive Conservatives have never been supportive of Indigenous issues. And when they were, they were not to the extent that the Liberals are. So when it comes to putting your money where your month mouth is and the budgets that flow to Indigenous people to help us overcome what this country did to us, the effects that we're still healing from, the Liberals are the ones that have the greatest track record. Now don't get me wrong, they are not saying the Liberals are allies would probably be pushing the definition. None of these parties are Indigenous parties. They are Canadian political parties that we negotiate with. But we get to choose, I guess when we vote who we want to argue with. Who do we have the greatest chance of finding agreement with that is not the Progressive Conservatives. So yesterday I talked about the the storm that is coming. And if you thought I was overreacting. Well, this first piece of paper I have is a printout from the cbc. So they send out a morning brief every morning. If you're not aware, news can no longer be shared on social media in Canada. That got restricted a while ago. And so I signed up for a variety of different emails so that I could say informed. And this one shares how the headline is Trump's top pick for National Security Advisor. Can't wait for Trudeau to go. So he's Florida Representative Mike Waltz, not to be confused with Kamala's running mate. Totally different spelling there. He has been selected by Donald Trump for the powerful position of National Security Advisor in the next White House. Okay, so get this. He is not a fan of Trudeau's Liberals is how they put it. Earlier this year, Waltz posted a video from Canada's Question Period. That's a fun thing to watch. Where Opposition leader Pierre Polly have ridiculed Tron Trudeau's housing policies. I mentioned this in yesterday's video. I referenced Leo Bernier, who was a Progressive conservative. He had that mindset, that business mindset. But he also was a classy gentleman. He didn't spend his time insulting people. Pierre Pollyv, I swear to God. Sounds like I don't know 8 year old in the schoolyard. And he's not a friendly 8 year old. He's the annoying little. By the way, does anyone know how tall POV is? Go off on attention here. My son and son and I actually tried googling that a little while ago. I may or may not have been leaning towards little man syndrome. Just saying he might be 6:2. I have no idea. But you can't find. I couldn't find that information online so if anyone's got a heads up I'd love to hear. Anyways, this is what this dudes posted on X. And by the way, if you're on X, that already tells me something about you. I got off that platform as soon as Elon Musk got his hands on it. I saw there is nothing good that could happen to me if I choose to swim around in a cesspool. 24 7X is a cesspool. And. And I don't see that getting better anytime soon. So what did he say on X? He was talking about Pierre Poliev. This guy is going to send Trudeau packing in 20, 25 in brackets finally and start digging Canada out of the progressive mess it's in. His trolling of Trudeau's nonsense is worth a watch. So not only are these people acting like 6 year olds, 8 year olds on the schoolyard, they encourage it. They celebrate it amongst each other. That's sickening. Can we adult now? Especially if you're vying to run a country. I want an adult to run the country. I want to go back to politicians that had some class, right? That actually were an example. I would want my kids to watch. And yes, my kids are grown now, my grandkids to watch. Because I sure would not want them behaving like Pierre Polf. By the way, this guy also has a Canadian connection besides just commenting on her politics. His wife is vice president for Calgary based TC Energy Corporation. It's the energy company formerly known as Trans Canada, builder of the ill fated Keystone XL oil pipeline. Enough said. If you don't understand why indigenous have an issue with pipelines, you should probably research that. And as far as his international views are concerned, Waltz was supportive of helping Ukraine in the aftermath of Russians and Russia's invasion. But as his party grew more skeptical, he echoed that sentiment. His online commentary emphasis emphasizes his view That u. S. Allies must pull their weight on security issues, including with regards to china, which he views as a serious national security threat. That would be officially called passing the buck. He wants someone blame someone else. Point fingers, do something else. Yeah. So that ugly south of the border is coming here. So what is going on with my camera? Why does it keep adjusting like that? I'm not moving. I have no idea. I'm sorry. I'll try to figure that out for tomorrow's video. So in this storm that is coming, what is going on? I'm gonna try adjusting my camera here. Maybe that'll make it better. I hope that makes it better. Stop moving. Anyways, in this crazy time of social unrest and political upheaval in the whole nine yards, your self care game has to be epic. Which means I would seriously, highly recommend that you look at your social media habits. How much are you concerned consuming and is it good for you if it's upsetting you, if it' constantly keeping your blood pressure up? This is not something. What is going on here? Try moving over here. It's not something you should be doing. So you are in charge of you. You choose all those people who can't turn a cell phone off. It's a little button on the side or just press down the power, it shuts off. It's really cool. My phone goes on silent at night. There is no way I have it set so certain key individuals like my children could phone if it was an emergency. Otherwise everything else makes it to the last till the morning it can wait. My sleep is more important and that's what self care is. So you got to start putting yourself. You got to start treating yourself like you have value, that you're someone of value and you deserve good food and exercise and a great night's sleep. So please do that. When it comes to social media, I also want you to consider a few things and that's where we go into these next pages. What we. You know what, I do this all the time and I couldn't believe the response from people. I I started getting emails privately directly to me saying how much they appreciate it. And it's three little words. When someone comments that they're frustrated, that they're angry, that they had a challenging day, whatever it is, all you type is I hear you not, I understand not, I've been there, not, it's no big deal. Not, it's gonna get better. Just I hear you send. Don't say anything else. Let them talk. Hold the space for them. We have so many People. I honestly believe that so many of trolls on the Internet right now are people that are frustrated because they don't feel like they're being heard. Hear the people that are commenting on your stuff. I'm not talking about the trolls. You're disrespect. I shut down the comments on my posts, right, Because I couldn't deal with the idiots anymore. But if. And on top of that, if you feel like you're not heard, you can ask yourself if you've been using your voice. And I'm not talking about trying to hijack someone else's thread or post and making it about you. Because guess what? If you're coming on commenting on someone else's post, if you're in their thread, it isn't about you. It's about them. It's their post. If you want it to be about you, make a post on your page, on your wall. You know, what is it now? It's not tweet, right? Whatever it is that you do on X, I could care less but share, share. You know what? Be vulnerable. I had a crappy day. And then don't argue with the people that come to support you. You feel free to delete the people that want to make it about them, because we got to get better at this. But practice it. I encourage you to practice it today. Just say, I hear you, because again, it's not about you. And that's okay. That's the social contract. We live with other people. You make them feel valuable, right? There's nothing wrong with that. When someone shares what they think, don't add yours in. When someone shares how they feel, don't add to it or explain it or minimize it. Don't share how it happened to you or how you know how it feels. Just, I hear you. Let it be about them. You don't need to take personal offense because it wasn't about you. Right? And if you can't do that, then stay off social media for your sake, okay? We got to do this. Let it be about them. Last but not least, We still have companies out there that hire DEI staff. So diversity, equity, and inclusion. Now, first and foremost, I saw the most amazing cartoon on the weekend. It was the cartoon image of a black woman talking with a white woman. And the white woman asked, like, as a bipoc would you. And. And the black woman interrupts, and it's like, black, black, blackity, black. I'm always black. And the white woman said, well, aren't you bi? And she's like, nope, I'm Black. I'm indigenous. I'm not black. I'm not a person of color. I'm indigenous. Right? So that's the first mistake people make when hiring a DEI person. They want to lump all marginalized together. Because we must have all the same experiences. We have commonalities, we don't have the same experience, we don't have the same history. So to ask, I would never do a workshop or a seminar on how to work best with your new black hires. I hope someone would call me out quickly saying I don't have the place when you wouldn't have to because I wouldn't take it. And asking a non indigenous person to teach you about the indigenous experience is ridiculous. Ridiculous. That's the blind leading the blind. Just because they're. Even if they're marginalized, if they're not indigenous, they don't walk the walk. They don't get it. They can't give you the insight you need. So that's step one. Step two, if you do hire an indigenous person to help you with your indigenous engagement, I have a request to make. Could you please. We should ban these. As far as I'm concerned, no more exclusive contracts. Meaning when you hire that indigenous person, you tell them that they can only work for you. No, because you are limiting and or silencing an indigenous voice. And that is the exact opposite of reconciliation. Okay, that is so mainstream, so control, so ownership. It's insulting to indigenous people. Can they work for you full time and dedicate most of their hours to you? Absolutely. But they should also be able to answer a question for someone else. Even pick up a part time side hustle with another company on the weekends if they want to. Because our perspective is needed if we're ever going to build this reconciliation bridge. So no more exclusive contracts. And last but not least, oh God. When it comes to training and I do seminars and workshops and I've made it crystal clear the problematic people don't come to my seminars unless the training is made mandatory. So here's control again and I get it. The employer who makes the training mandatory is saying that this training is true, so valuable and so important that I want all my staff to take it. News flash, your staff resents mandatory training. If you didn't know that, now you do. And they're not taking it out on you because they don't want to risk a reprimand on the job. They take it out on the facilitator. We can tell who doesn't want to be in the room. And that does not help and it actually hinders the learning of the people who do. So. Another request, what I need you to do is either stop offering mandatory training, which would be really awesome. Even if only 40% of your staff showed up for a training, they now have the tools and the mechanisms to work with the people that don't. That's a good thing. So one, no mandatory training. Or if you still need to offer mandatory training, then you have to have the budget for it. Because I know me, I charge more for mandatory training. Why? Because there's a higher risk I'm going to be a target. There is way more emotional labor in facilitating a session with people that don't want to be there than it is with willing participants. One of the things I love about My career is 99.9% of my sessions are voluntary, which means I am working with the best of the best. These people may have very minimal understanding of indigenous issues or reconciliation, but they're there because they want to learn. And I create the safe space that allows them to be able to ask all their questions, even those ones that everyone's going to judge them if they ask, they get to ask them and better, even more importantly, they get the answers. So don't restrict your dei Indigenous hire. And please, could we lay off in the mandatory training or understand that you're going to pay through the nose for it. We got to do this better. Times are getting scarier. Your watch your indigenous employees. Make sure they're okay. Ask them, do the check in. How you doing today? Scale of 1 to 10? 1. You're barely holding it together. 10. You're crushing it. It's a simple question. It takes 30 seconds. Care about the answer and be willing to support, not judge. If you get a lower number, I hope that makes sense. I hope you're taking care of yourself. I hope you're asking yourself, why am I even typing this when I'm on social media? Why am I arguing with this person? How does this affect me besides negatively? And if it's like I have zero interest in engaging with someone, that is the equivalent of talking to the wall. I am here to help the people that want to dance on the wall. They want to climb up and join me. If they're so far away from the wall that they think what I say is ridiculous, then they're not ready to hear me and I'm not ready to waste the air or the effort. That's called self care. And in this storm, you need self care whether you're indigenous or not. Please take care of you until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye bye.