Standing Strong

Audrey Poitras is one of the most influential and accomplished Métis leaders in Canada. She led the Métis Nation of Alberta for twenty-seven years, from 1996 to 2023, becoming the longest-serving leader in the organization’s history. Not only was Audrey the first female President of the Métis Nation of Alberta, she was also the first female leader of the Métis National Council. During Audrey’s tenure at the helm of Canada’s oldest continuous Métis government, where she was re-elected an unprecedented seven consecutive times, she battled misogyny, dismantled stereotypes, and overturned entrenched practices to rebuild the credibility of the Métis, not only in Alberta but across Canada. Among her many landmark achievements, she negotiated the first-ever self-government agreement between the Government of Canada and a Métis government, advanced major initiatives to give Métis more control over their education and welfare, and championed the adoption of the MNA's Constitution, culminating in the largest ratification vote ever held by an Indigenous nation in Canada.

An award-winning journalist formerly at The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail, Robert Brehl now operates his own consulting, communications, and writing firm called abc2 communications inc. He is the coauthor of bestselling books Relentless: The True Story of the Man Behind Rogers Communications; Right Hand Man: How Phil Lind Guided the Genius of Ted Rogers, Canada’s Foremost Entrepreneur; and Hurricane Hazel: A Life with Purpose about Mississauga’s Hazel McCallion, the longest-serving mayor of a major city in Canadian history. Brehl has also authored other books, including the bestseller The Best of Milt Dunnell, about the legendary Canadian sports columnist from St. Marys, Ontario. Both Relentless and Right Hand Man were finalists for the National Business Book Award. Brehl’s latest book was Unconventional: The Story of an Entrepreneurial Environmentalist Inside Alberta’s Oil and Gas Industry, and was coauthored with Dave Werklund, an Alberta environmentalist entrepreneur.