James Igloliorte

Retired Provincial Court Judge James Igloliorte was born in Hopedale, Labrador in 1949. He attended school there until Grade 9 then completed High School at North West River. In 1968 he attended Memorial University completing a conjoint Science and Education degree in 1974. By then him and his wife Linda Carter of Corner Brook were teachers at St. James School in Lark Harbor, Bay of Islands where they lived for 8 years until his appointment as a Lay Magistrate in 1980 to the judicial district of Goose Bay with circuit court responsibilities to the coast of Labrador. Since his retirement in 2004 he has worked with the Labrador Inuit Development Corporation and held various Board positions, and presently is a Board member of the Gary McLean Indian Day School Settlement Corporation focusing on the delivery of the Legacy Fund Settlement. He last completed an Inquiry report called the Ground Search and Rescue project. He lives in St. John’s with his wife Linda. They have 4 children and 5 grandchildren.

Dr. Mike Devine

Dr. Mike Devine of Renews, Newfoundland and Labrador, is a recently retired Professor of the School of Social Work at Memorial University of Newfoundland (1998 – 2018). He graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Master of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts from Memorial.

Dr. Devine was first employed as a front line social worker with the Provincial Government in 1975, moving six years later into management positions in program areas that mostly included the child protection/child welfare program. After 23 years in those positions, Dr. Devine assumed a faculty position (1998) at Memorial. His research interests and publications included social policy and change in child welfare; organizational development and change with a focus on community and community capacity building; grandparenting, and the Community Relocation Program (CRP) in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dr. Devine has a long history of community volunteer work that includes: Board Member and Secretary of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – Newfoundland and Labrador Division; member of National Task Force of Canadian Hard of Hearing Association; Chair of Community Council of Wiseman Community Center (homeless shelter for adults); member of Policy and Procedures Committee at Ruah Counselling Centre (a not for profit counselling centre). In 1992, he received the Canada Volunteer Award Certificate of Merit from Health Canada for his work related to an International Primary Health Care Project on the Southern Shore.

Mike Devine and his wife, Pauline Lake-Devine, live in St. John’s and have six children and six grandchildren.

Anastasia Qupee

Anastasia Qupee is a former Grand Chief of the Innu Nation (2014-2017) and is the first female from the community of Sheshatshiu to be elected to the position. She had previously served as an elected member of the Innu Nation Board of Directors. In addition to having served two terms as Chief of the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation (2004-2010), she was employed with her Band Council as Health Director and as the Director of Human Resources.

Ms. Qupee currently serves as the Director of Social Health for Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation and is chairperson of the Charles J. Andrew Youth Treatment Centre. She is a former director of the Labrador-Grenfell Regional Health Services Board. Anastasia Qupee was named a Champion for Human Rights for lifelong advocacy by the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission in 2018.

During her tenure as Chief of the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation, Ms. Qupee was an integral member of the negotiating team responsible for the historic Tshash Petapen Agreement which recognizes the Innu Land Claims Agreement in Principle, the Lower Churchill Impacts and Benefits Agreement (IBA) and Innu redress for the Upper Churchill hydroelectric development. As primary representative for the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation at the Labrador Innu Comprehensive Healing Strategy’s Main Table, she was also involved in the devolution of education from the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador to Innu.

In addition to a wealth of experience in community management, Ms. Qupee holds a Leadership Certificate in Community Management from the University of Prince Edward Island and is a graduate of Eastern College’s Human Resource program. Her primary interest is in creating the social environment and infrastructure necessary for self-government within the Innu cultural context and she is passionate about ensuring that all levels of government and government agencies recognize Innu culture and language as a pillar of health and wellness for all Innu and most especially children and youth.

Anastasia Qupee resides in her home community of Sheshatshiu, Labrador with her husband and children and takes every available opportunity to spend time with her grandchildren and extended family in Nutshimit, the country.