Chief Patricia Bernard
A proud Wolastoqey woman, lawyer, and Chief of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation in northwestern New Brunswick.
Patricia Bernard is Chief of the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation in northwestern New Brunswick. A graduate of the University of New Brunswick (BEd '96, LLB '99), she was the first Wolastoqey woman to earn a law degree in the province, focusing her studies on Aboriginal history and law.
As a second-year law student in 1998, Patricia submitted a specific land claim on behalf of her community — the beginning of a 23-year pursuit of justice. Acting as lead counsel before the Specific Claims Tribunal, she carried the case through more than two decades of research, hearings and negotiation, drawing on archival records dating back to a 1787 survey of the reserve.
In April 2021, that work culminated in the largest federal land claim settlement in Maritime history — $145 million — along with the right to add nearly 2,000 acres to the community's reserve. The Nation established a legacy trust named for her ancestor Louis Bernard, whose petition in the 1860s kept the reserve from disappearing altogether.
Under Chief Bernard's leadership, Madawaska has become a model of economic self-determination, anchored by the Grey Rock Power Centre; in 2018 the community received Cando's national Indigenous Economic Developer of the Year Award. In 2019, Patricia was appointed to the Order of New Brunswick. She continues to inspire young people, demonstrating that with dedication and perseverance, great achievements for oneself and one's community are possible.
