Lorraine Rekmans is co-owner of a small business in Kemptville and has worked in the community for the past 15 years. She is of Algonquin-French descent, and is a member of the Serpent River First Nation. As a young journalist, she worked for the Elliot Lake Standard, and later became the editor of Council Fires, and also worked for a brief period as editor of the Anishinabek News before moving into the non-profit sector.
She worked as executive director for the National Aboriginal Forestry Association and was involved with the National Forest Strategy as an advocate for sustainable forest management practices, and the development of non-timber forest products.
Lorraine is the co-editor of This Is My Homeland, a book which captures the experiences of members of the Serpent River First Nation and the impact on their lives from uranium mining at Elliot Lake. Lorraine assisted in writing a number of international declarations including the Indigenous Peoples Declaration on Forestry, which was submitted at the World Forestry Congress, in 2003.
She has received The Rosalie Bertell Award for outstanding service in the field of environmental health by the International Institute of Concern for Public Health.
She served as the Aboriginal Affairs Critic for the Green Party of Canada and was a member in the Green Party Shadow Cabinet from 2008 until 2020. Lorraine was a three-time federal candidate for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. She has just completed one term as a board member with the Forest Stewardship Council of Canada.
Lorraine and her husband Gerry live in Kemptville and are thrilled to be surrounded by their children and grandchildren.
