Jennifer Stewart: Minister, can you take us back to your early life and share a moment or influence that shaped who you are today as a leader?
Mandy Gull-Masty: That is such a deep question to start with. I am from Quebec. I live in my traditional territory. I am a Cree girl. I think growing up in my community and really spending quality time with my grandparents shaped a lot of my decision-making. They were so compassionate to each other. They worked together. They really embodied the balance in a relationship.
My grandfather was hilarious. He had such a good sense of humor. My grandmother was always doing something, always working. I always remember those early years, when I was eight, nine, ten, spending time with them. Often they would keep me in the bush. In the summer, we would be at camp, just watching them work – watching them prepare snowshoes, watching them prepare hides.
It showed me the importance of culture. It showed me the importance of family. These are some of my core values. It also showed me that when you put hard work into something, you can be rewarded with a really significant outcome. They did that a lot for us. They were definitely a huge influence on my life growing up.
Catherine Clark: You’ve also spoken about your mom as an inspiration. She was a band secretary and often approached for advice and support within the community. You saw her role as something special.
Mandy Gull-Masty: I did. I had the opportunity in my career to achieve what I had always wanted, which was to be a band secretary. A lot of people don’t realize that those key people – the points of contact, the ones who provide information and help bring your question to the appropriate place – are really the backbone of an office that functions well.
In my lifetime, I’ve had the opportunity to work with really great people in these administrative roles. They taught me a lot. They shaped me a lot. They showed me the absolute level of complexity that comes with receiving a question and having to determine where to take it if it’s not familiar to you.
If someone isn’t calling and saying, “I need to speak to this person about this,” but instead says, “I have this issue, I don’t know what to do,” in that frontline moment, you are the one who helps guide them to the place where they need to take their decision-making.
Watching my mom do that – going to her office after school, which I don’t think people do anymore, but in my day we could go to the band office, sit beside her, and hang out while she worked – had a huge influence on me. It showed me a lot about communication, compassion, teamwork, and how you can help people.
It was a profound moment for me. My career aspirations started with wanting to be a band secretary. I think they have taken me into a different space, but it has been equally influential.
Jennifer Stewart: How has your identity and connection to your heritage guided your path, both personally and professionally?
Mandy Gull-Masty: Every single day, when you’re going into a workplace – very often I worked within the world of Cree politics, primarily in my early career – we had a lot of engagement with other groups. We worked with the provincial government. We worked with other organizations.
I noticed very early on that decision-making and how people thought about work being done was very different. In my nation, we look at things holistically. We try to find intersecting points. When you’re pushing something forward, you’re also looking far into the future and asking: How is this going to look in the next generation? What are we leaving to the people who will come into this space?
When I had the opportunity to work in non-Indigenous spaces or with individuals who were not of the same heritage as me, I found the decision-making was very different. It was facts-based. It was oriented within policy. It was very structured and focused on one specific point – trying to attain a target.
But when I observed my leaders – working with my Chief and Council, with our regionally elected Grand Chief and Deputy Grand Chief – it was a discussion of impact. If we make this decision, what are we going to be living with? Of course, outcomes mattered, but it was much more complex.
How will this decision impact the land? The community? What are the social issues? There were so many different facets – more complex, but more in-depth in terms of what you connect with. When you’re living in a small, remote community in the north and have a close relationship with your environment, you take those things into consideration.
Whereas if you’re from Bay Street, in a high-rise, and not connecting daily with nature, I think your environment shapes your decision-making. It was quite different, but it was interesting. I learned a lot from both sides.
Catherine Clark: As a woman in politics – and as an Indigenous woman – you’re entering spaces that weren’t built for you. How do you carry your own values and your community’s values into those environments?
Mandy Gull-Masty: I’ve had the opportunity to be the first woman at the table many times, in different roles. It’s definitely challenging because there’s often no one you can call who has been in the exact place you’re in. I’ve had great women in my life to call for advice, but when you don’t have someone who has walked that path before you, it can be tough.
When you surround yourself with people who have compassion and empathy and who try to guide you, it helps. When you have great Elders who keep you connected to who you are and what is expected of you as a Cree person, that shapes you as a leader.
I’ve had the amazing opportunity to work with many mentors – primarily men – who made space for women at the table. I’m so thankful they did that, because they weren’t just mentoring me; they were mentoring the people who will follow me. It’s been incredible to hear young women in my nation and beyond say, “I’m proud to see an Indigenous woman doing this. I want to do this too.”
But there are also moments people don’t see – when you receive comments or are treated in ways that are not reflective of a balanced approach between women and men. I’ve been thankful for my husband – my partner of almost 30 years – who has been my rock. He gives me a reality check and tells me to rest when I’m doing too much. My kids keep me grounded. When I walk into my house, I am mom.
One thing I want to be honest about is that when you are a woman in leadership, you are often expected to do four times the amount of work with half the recognition. That might sound unfair, but I’ve seen it. I’m hopeful this will shift in the future. I do think gender roles are changing.
In tough moments – when people push back, criticize, or say hurtful things – I’ve learned to always show grace. That’s what I observed in the women in my life. It’s not about meeting hurtful comments with hurtful comments. It’s about showing compassion, even when you’re serving people who may not agree with you.
At the same time, you need to know when to push back, because no one is going to come to your defense. You are your greatest tool and asset. You can also be your worst enemy. Finding that balance is part of the leadership pathway.
Jennifer Stewart: We recently held a women’s retreat, and 30 women shared that they’re interested in politics. These are high-achieving, successful women, but what’s holding them back is the environment, the process, and the toxicity online. What was that process like for you? And what advice would you give to women thinking about throwing their names into the political arena?
Mandy Gull-Masty: That is such an interesting question, because I’ve had women come to me and ask me that. In fact, I do think one of my children has the bug for politics. I’ve always advised three things.
If you’re going to come into politics, you have to accept that the majority – not all, but the majority – of the work that you do, you will not reap or see the outcome of. Electoral periods and terms are not a lifetime, unless you’re a really good politician. You have to accept that you will not often be the person there to receive the completion of your work. Somebody else will. You will inherit work from others, and if you are really lucky, you might have the opportunity to complete something and see it from start to finish.
You also have to have an incredibly thick skin, because the environment you’re working in politically can be really tough. You can get pushback from those you’re working against in a parliamentary system, but you also receive opinions from those you are serving. Sometimes that opinion is meant as feedback. Sometimes it can be really tough. And it’s not only received by you – it’s received by your family, your husband, your kids. They read things about you online. We’ve had many conversations where that has really bothered my family.
But showcasing grace and compassion is important. At the core, people just want you to do a good job for them. That’s what they’re trying to say when they give feedback.
The third thing is confidence. Knowing how to have confidence in yourself and knowing when to give yourself a break. Your skin can get thick as you go through politics, but there are times when things can be very sensitive. Knowing when and how to take a break when you need it is probably the biggest thing you can offer yourself.
Catherine Clark: Before your political career, you had your first child at 14 years old. Can you talk about how that informed your path and how you turned that experience into a strength?
Mandy Gull-Masty: This was probably the most challenging part of my life – being a teen mom. I did have two other classmates who were also moms at the same time, and it was a tough group to be in because there was a lot of judgment.
I always remember one lady telling me, “You made such a huge mistake. I don’t know what you’re going to be able to do with your life.” That statement stayed with me – not because I felt she was being disparaging, but because I thought, you know what, I’m going to show you that no matter what you decide, you can always find opportunity in challenge. I always tell people that: you can always find opportunity in challenge.
It was incredibly hard to have a baby, go to high school, do homework, and take care of your baby. There was no daycare at the time. I had a lot of support from my family. My mom helped me with my son. When he was around one, the first daycare was introduced, so he was in daycare while I was in high school.
It was a unique experience – walking to school, pulling your baby in a sled, dropping him off at daycare while your friends were in the hallway talking about what they did the night before.
The biggest gift my mom gave me was her clear message: you are responsible for your child. She did not try to raise my child for me. She said, “You had that baby. You are going to make sure he knows you are his mom.” That helped me understand responsibility and the importance of being the rock for your children.
I’m very proud to be a mother of four. My kids are all adults now. Parenting doesn’t stop when they grow up – they just have adult problems that you have to parent. Growing up alongside my kids, while I was also becoming a young adult, was challenging at times but ultimately extremely rewarding.
My daughter recently got married and is starting her own family. It’s been a transition. I see my friends with young children who are exhausted, and my youngest is 24. They ask me to babysit, and I say, call my daughter. It’s an interesting place to be.
Jennifer Stewart: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve taken from motherhood?
Mandy Gull-Masty: The absolute delicate nature of who we are. We are so sensitive. We are so prone to being harmed. Your words and how you treat someone can harm them so much.
Seeing how you shape people, wanting to make sure that when they grow up they contribute something back, trying to be gentle, trying to empower my kids – those have been huge lessons.
Two things I learned later in life, and I wish someone had emphasized them more clearly, are this: make sure your children feel loved, and make sure they feel secure. I understood those things when I started as a mom, but seeing how impactful they are when reinforced at every stage of childhood into adulthood was profound.
Make sure your children feel secure. Make sure they know you love them. Tell them. Show them. Hug them. It is so important in helping them grow into confident adults.
Catherine Clark: You’ve offered such a beautiful reflection on parenting. Could you do the same for leadership or success? What should leadership or success mean for women individually – not what others think it means?
Mandy Gull-Masty: To be a strong leader, you have to offer yourself the opportunity to improve in your leadership. Invest in yourself. Continue your education. Continue learning. Read, read, read. Spend time reflecting and find people who will give you honest feedback – who will tell you what went well and where you could have made a better decision. Take that feedback as an opportunity to improve.
I have always been fascinated with decision-making. Watching my mom and others in my early career, I saw how profound decision-making is. If you invest in understanding communication, connection, follow-up, and trust, it can contribute greatly to your leadership.
Probably the most important thing is to offer yourself the opportunity – even when it doesn’t exist. Don’t wait for someone to say, “Do you want to be a leader?” or “I’ve noticed you have leadership potential.” Offer yourself that opportunity.
Every time my career advanced, it was because I challenged myself to try something new. I took risks. I left being the leader of my nation to pursue an election I wasn’t even sure I could win. It led to me becoming a cabinet minister. I offered myself that opportunity.
Stability is great, but growth often requires risk. Offer yourself the opportunity, even when it’s frightening. It can lead you into spaces you never imagined. I was a teen mom on welfare. I never dreamed of being a minister.
