Local Wolastoq artist Susan Sacobie created a piece of art to represent the Looking Out For Each Other project. She says:“This painting is for the missing and murdered Wolastoqiyik & Mi’kmak women that were almost forgotten. The five women in this piece represent knowledge, faith, wisdom, justice and peace. They are wearing our traditional peaked hats decorated with the double curve motifs. The wampum belt on the bottom is our promise to each woman that their lives will be remembered, celebrated, honoured. The wampum belt is also a promise to each Native woman that we have to rebuild our matriarchal standing within each of our families & communities. We must humble ourselves and learn and teach one another about who we are, where we come from and to not be silent and share our individual stories so we can empower our sisters, stay connected and strong and in turn we keep our families and communities strong. Their connecting shields are protecting us and reminding each of us that it is an obligation and a privilege to guard one another because we are all connected. As mothers and daughters, the living as well as the women who crossed the rainbow bridge we have to tell ourselves and each other our lives matter, we are important and we have to love and respect each other unconditionally and stand together.” These words and the voices of Indigenous women will continue to guide the project.
Looking Out for each other project (LOFEO)
Who we are
The New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council is leading a community driven project called Looking Out For Each Other: Assisting Aboriginal families and communities when an Aboriginal woman goes missing. The main goal of our project is to empower Aboriginal organizations to provide well supported services to families and friends of missing people. We are collaborating on this project with other Aboriginal organizations, community members, Universities and mainstream service providers in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador.
Partner Aboriginal Organizations
We have partnered with other Native Councils, Friendship Centres, Aboriginal Women’s organizations and Aboriginal service organizations to hold Sharing Circles and to develop a network of resources and supports for community members in their regions. Our Sharing Circles are intended to provide a culturally safe atmosphere for people that want to share their stories and experiences in dealing with the law, media, justice and other social systems when a loved one has experienced abuse, gone missing or was murdered. Information gathered from the Sharing Circles serves in the development of culturally appropriate resources and supports for families and communities of missing Indigenous people, including provincial helplines.
Helpline & Resources
We are working on establishing provincial helplines in Atlantic Canada. The helpline is currently being piloted in New Brunswick in partnership with Gignoo Transition House. This is a 24-7 helpline that serves as a support, information, and referral service system, to help families navigate the various systems when a loved one goes missing. The helpline phone number is 1-833-MMI-FIND, which stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Families In Need of Direction.
Universities
We are working with researchers at the University of New Brunswick, Université du Quebec à Montreal, St. Thomas University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, University of Kings College, Dalhousie University, and the Nova Scotia Community College using participatory, community-driven research and community action methodologies that will lead to improved services in the areas of legal
and policing services as well as non-discriminatory media practices.
Mainstream Service Providers
We are working with legal clinics and law firms to provide services to people who are seeking legal supports. We are working with federal, provincial and municipal police services to ensure that risk assessment protocols and tools are responsive to the needs of Indigenous missing persons and their loved ones. LOFEO is working with media organizations to develop best practices and principles for improved reporting on missing Indigenous persons that will be shared with journalists and journalism students in the Atlantic region.

Partnering Organiztion
A list of all our partners

Research Reports
All our reports in one place

LOFEO Newsletters
Detailed info about our project

Helpline Brochure
Our 24/7 helpline MMIFIND

Sharing Circles Brochure
All our reports in one place

LOFEO Team
Meet the team
Events & Updates

The Team

Barry LaBillois
Barry LaBillois is of Mi’kmaq descent who continues to live on his Traditional and Ancestral homeland outside of the reserve system created by the Indian Act. As a lifetime supporter of the off-reserve Aboriginal peoples, he has dedicated his time and effort in one way or another to the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council. LaBillois has worked with the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council at many different levels and capacity. LaBillois has worked at the local level, with the Board of Directors, the Membership Committee and committees at the National level. In spirit of his work and dedication to the Council, LaBillois was given the distinction of being voted in as a Lifetime Member in the summer of 2016. Beyond his work with the council, he was also the Treaty Implementation Management Beneficiary Entitlement Regime Program manager (TIMBER), and worked alongside the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy Program. Barry LaBillois is looking forward to working for the off-reserve Aboriginal Peoples, and will bring your issues and concerns forward to all levels of government.

Elizabeth Blaney
Elizabeth Blaney has over 30 years experience in community activism. She is currently the Director of Administration & Program Development at the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council. She has collaborated on and led numerous studies addressing social, economic, and political issues that impact indigenous peoples, women, and low-income populations. She has taught at the postsecondary level across various disciplines including education, women’s studies, sociology, and family violence. Elizabeth has worked at various levels at the community and academic world; she has conducted bridge-building workshops at the grassroots level, developed training for public professionals, and addressed governments and private sector agencies on various policy issues. In her current capacity, Elizabeth has pursued four projects examining the experiences of urban Aboriginal people in New Brunswick. She has provided advisory support to the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity, and Reproductive Justice NB. She sits as an ally with the Wabanaki Confederacy. Elizabeth has a doctorate in the sociology of education, masters in adult and community development education, and double major undergraduate degree in psychology and economics.

Dr. Jula Hughes
Dr. Jula Hughes is a full Professor of Law at the University of New Brunswick. Her research areas are Aboriginal law, particularly the legal recognition of and provision of services to off-reserve and non-status Aboriginal people; and criminal law, particularly the application of criminal law to marginalized populations. She is the Principal Investigator on the LOFEO project.
Jula currently teaches Criminal Law, Constitutional Law and Jurisprudence. At other times, she has also taught Criminal Procedure, Labour Law, Collective Bargaining, Human Rights Law, Public Law, and Foundations of Law. She is the recipient of multiple research grants, has published extensively in Canadian and international journals, has contributed chapters to various selections of essays and is a regular speaker at international, national and regional conferences.
Jula’s community involvements include the RCMP Advisory Committee on Witness Protection (Chair), the Pay Equity Coalition of New Brunswick (Regional Representative for the Capital Region) Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network (Member of the Grant Adjudication Committee, Executive Member and researcher); the Fredericton Legal Advice Clinic (Board Member) and the Access to Justice Coalition of New Brunswick (Steering Committee Member).
In her ample spare time, Jula enjoys hanging out with her teenage daughters (really!), hiking, knitting and other craftsy things.

Michelle Perley
Michelle is the Project Manager on the Looking Out For Each Other project. She is a proud Aboriginal woman of Maliseet decent from the Wolastoqiyik Nation at Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation, NB). As a graduate from UNB Fredericton, Michelle has been involved with several Aboriginal organizations in various capacities and has served on the Board of Directors for some of these organizations, including the Atlantic Aboriginal Health Research Program and currently with Under One Sky Friendship Center.
As a mother of a young daughter herself, Michelle has a strong passion and deep commitment in advocating for women’s rights and equality, including being an active supporter of the Sisters in Spirit Movement. Through her endeavours Michelle strives to be an inspiration and positive role model for other minority women and youth.
“I am very honoured to be part of such a significant and vital project that will undoubtedly have a fundamental impact on several of the lives of the families, friends and communities of MMIWG2S.”

anthea Plummer
Anthea Plummer is the Project Engagement Officer on the Looking Out For Each Other project. She has worked on numerous community-driven Indigenous research projects for almost 7 years, as both a researcher and a coordinator. Her educational background is in Interdisciplinary Policy Studies (University of New Brunswick), Alternative Dispute Resolution (University of Prince Edward Island), Political Science/Philosophy (St. Thomas University), and Visual Arts/Photography (New Brunswick College of Craft and Design). Anthea has been Community Co-Chair on the Workplace Violence and Abuse Research Team since 2013 and is Co-Director for PSAC Local 60550. She is committed to working with Indigenous organizations and communities to support their rights and interests. Her career is centered on women’s rights and equality, anti-discrimination, respectful and safe environments free from violence and abuse, environmental and social justice.
