At the end of October, the FNQLEDC will fly to Bordeaux, Quebec City’s sister city, to take part in the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum (GSEF 2025). This international event brings together more than 4,000 participants from around the world, all driven by a shared ambition: to build inclusive and sustainable economies.
For our organization, this is a unique opportunity to make the voices of Quebec’s First Nations heard, share the strength of our initiatives, and, above all, discover new tools to better meet the needs of the communities.
A focus on food security
In 2025, we launched the First Nations and Inuit Food Network (FNIFN) website, in collaboration with the First Nations and Inuit Food Security Committee (FNIFSC). This first step toward advancing food security and food sovereignty in communities has prompted many reflections on how to provide learning opportunities, advance community projects, meet the needs of community members, and stimulate collective engagement.
With this in mind, our Social Economy Advisor, Valérye Tremblay, and our Executive Director, Jinny Thibodeau Rankin, will be taking part in the Accelerating Social Innovations territorial journey, focusing on food security, from the first day. In the villages and landscapes of South Gironde, they will discover how cooperative, citizen-led and innovative initiatives are revitalizing rural areas with solidarity bakeries, participatory grocery stores, and social food security experiments.
As Jinny points out: “Social food security is an issue that resonates strongly with our First Nations communities in Quebec. This journey is the perfect opportunity to discover applicable and innovative initiatives for our communities and to interact with some forty participants who share a growing interest in these same types of initiatives.”
Carrying the Bear’s mission
Beyond the round tables and plenary sessions, a powerful symbol will be travelling with us: the ID1N Bear. Launched in 2021, the Bear was born out of a need expressed by First Nations artisans and entrepreneurs. They wanted a concrete way to authenticate their services or products and highlight the true identity of First Nations peoples with a view to countering the growing rise of cultural appropriation.
For Jinny, the goal is not just to be standard-bearers of this symbol, but also to inspire other regions of the world to offer a similar means of authentication to Indigenous people around the world:
“With every footprint we leave, the ID1N Bear will be there—a symbol of pride that reclaims what has been misappropriated for too long … the revenues lost to cultural appropriation, the devaluation of our know-how, and the erosion of the economic development of our communities. The Bear offers a strong and concrete response: a tool to counter appropriation and to protect, recognize, and promote authenticity.”
Our presence will be reinforced by the participation of Indigenous Tourism Quebec (ITQ), with whom the FNQLEDC is partnering to share our mission. Together, we want to demonstrate that the social economy, culture, and tourism can work together to help First Nations flourish while supporting meaningful initiatives.
Sow, learn and share
Over the course of these three days, our team will be listening, ready to learn from experiences abroad, but also to share the unique realities of Quebec and its First Nations.
In Bordeaux, we want to sow seeds by making contacts, having conversations, and discovering new ideas. We want to bring back useful tools, understand why certain initiatives succeed or fail, and analyze them to potentially apply this knowledge in the communities. We want to build bridges, much like the connection that has endured between Bordeaux and Quebec City for over sixty years.
A look to the future
The FNQLEDC’s participation in the GSEF 2025 is much more than a presence at a major gathering. It is an act of dialogue and a commitment to bringing the voice of First Nations to global discussions on the social and solidarity economy. It is an affirmation that our realities, solutions and symbols have their place in this global conversation.
Follow our journey on social media, discover the FNIFN, and join us in this movement towards a future where the social economy is rooted in the values of resilience, community and authenticity!
