Our Speakers

Candace Carter

Paskwa Gardens - Pasqua First Nation, SK

Candace Carter is a Certified Lands Manager who has worked for her Nation for about six years. She is a wife, mother and kokum (grandmother), and a proud Pasqua First Nation band member who grew up in the community. As Lands Manager for Pasqua First Nation, she works from a simple belief: by taking care of the land, we take care of our people.

That belief led her to start Paskwa Garden, a community food security project created in the spring of 2025. After a successful first season, the garden is growing. Pasqua First Nation secured funding through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Local Food Infrastructure Fund to add a solar-powered irrigation system, a greenhouse grow tunnel, cold storage and a trailer. This gives the garden team the capacity to grow more food, store it longer and get it to community members. Candace is here to share the Paskwa Garden journey so far, and where it’s headed next.

Paskwa Gardens Facebook

Brian Wade

Inuvialuit Community Economic Development Organization - NWT

Brian Wade is an Inuvialuk, harvester and community leader based in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. As Director of Community Affairs, part of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, he leads initiatives that strengthen food sovereignty, economic opportunity, and community resilience across the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

His work includes the Inuvialuit Country Food Processing Plant and the revitalization of the Inuvialuit reindeer herd. These are community-driven programs that support harvesters, create employment, sustain cultural knowledge, and reduce reliance on southern food systems. Brian’s leadership demonstrates how Indigenous knowledge, strong partnerships and Northern innovation can create practical solutions with relevance across Canada.

www.irc.inuvialuit.com

Jolene Johnson

Wabanaki Maple - Tobique First Nation, NB

Jolene Johnson is a proud Wolastoqiyik woman from Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation) in New Brunswick, and a wife, mother and grandmother. She is the founder, President and CEO of Wabanaki Maple, a 100% Indigenous female-owned maple syrup company she started in 2018. It is recognized as the first Indigenous and female-owned maple syrup business in Atlantic Canada.

Before starting Wabanaki Maple, Jolene worked her way up from cook to manager at a restaurant in her community. She also spent seasons on her family’s Christmas tree farm. She learned to harvest sap through her family’s small backyard tradition, and she noticed how little Indigenous culture was represented in the maple industry. So she built a company to change that, named for the Peoples of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Today, Wabanaki Maple is known for barrel-aged syrups aged in bourbon, whisky and toasted oak barrels, along with infusions like elderberry and chipotle. Its products are sold through more than 200 retailers across Canada and in export markets.

Jolene was named the Micro-Business Award winner at the 2023 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards. Through the company’s Bareroots Initiative, Wabanaki Maple’s gift boxes support tree reforestation across the Wabanaki woodlands. Her long-term dream is a hands-on sugar farm where visitors can learn how her ancestors harvested maple.

www.wabanakimaple.com

Ian Gladue

Mitsoh - Big Stone Cree Nation, AB

Ian Gladue is a proud member of the Bigstone Cree Nation in Wabasca, Alberta (Treaty 8 Territory), and the founder of Mitsoh, an Indigenous-owned meat snack company whose name means “to eat” in Cree. Raised on the Nation, Ian moved to Edmonton as a teenager. He turned a lifelong love of cooking into Edmonton’s first Indigenous food cart in 2013, which grew into the Native Delights food truck and restaurant.

The idea for Mitsoh came while he watched his mother make traditional dry meat. He founded the company in 2018 to share authentic Indigenous foods with a modern market. Today, Mitsoh makes dry meat and pemmican snacks from real bison and prairie berries at its plant in Edmonton, and its products carry an “Elder Approved” stamp. Ian built the company with his business partner, Brandon Markiw, sealing the partnership with a sweat lodge ceremony and pipe.

In November 2025, Mitsoh secured a multi-million dollar investment from Raven Indigenous Capital Partners to expand manufacturing, grow national distribution and develop new products. Mitsoh has since expanded beyond bison into beef, won Inclusive ScaleUP of the Year at the ScaleUP Awards, and is now in stores across Canada, including Northern stores through The North West Company.