A young Indigenous relations analyst with B.C. Parks had high hopes when he became a delegate to a United Nations conference on the environment in Nairobi this month.

Today, friends and family of Micah Messent are in mourning after it was learned that he was onboard the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday (March 10) not far from Addis Ababa.

According to a Facebook post, the young man was on his way to Kenya to attend a United Nations conference happening there.

“Pretty stoked to announce that I’ve been selected by United Nations Association In Canada as a member of their delegation for the 4th United Nations Assembly of the Environment!” it reads. “Im headed to Kenya tomorrow where I’ll have the chance to meet with other passionate youth and leaders from around the world and explore how we can tackle the biggest challenges that are facing our generation.”

The Courtenay man is one of 18 Canadians onboard who lost their lives.

None of the 157 passengers and crew survived.

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According to the Comox Valley Record, Messent grew up in the traditional territory of the K'omoks First Nation. He's a graduate of Vancouver Island University and had been working with B.C. Parks for seven months. Messent took a keen interest in ocean conservation.

This afternoon (March 11), the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UNBIC) issued a statement on Messent’s death, identifying him as an Indigenous youth, member of the Red River Métis Nation in Manitoba, and 2017-18 graduate of the Indigenous Youth Internship Program.

“Micah’s placement with B.C. Parks provided him the opportunity to not only utilize his formal education, but also to exchange traditional teachings and life experiences with others,” it reads. “Micah, an avid sailor, was a graduate of the Indigenous Studies program at the University of Victoria and had plans to return to school in the future to pursue a law degree.”

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The Ethiopian Airlines accident occurred just five months after another Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after taking off from Jakarta, Indonesia. That plan was owned by Lion Air, a budget airline that operates throughout Southeast Asia.

The Boeing 737 Max 8 has only been in operation since 2017.

Two Boeing 737 Max 8 accidents occurring in less than six months has prompted several countries to ground the aircraft until more is known about what caused the planes to crash.

For now, Canada has decided against doing the same.

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“It is very important that when an accident occurs—and there can be multiple reasons to explain the cause of that accident—that we don’t jump to conclusions with respect to cause of the accident,” Canada’s minister of transport, Marc Garneau, told reporters today.

“It is important for the cause of the accident to be known before any decisions are taken,” he continued. “I am confident that we are following up on this very, very carefully, and with all of the priority that is necessary to ensure that we discover what the cause of the accident was. And then I will not hesitate to take any action necessary when we discover what that cause was.”

Other Canadians onboard the Ethiopian Airlines plane included Winnipeg environmental activist Danielle Moore, Carleton University professor Pius Adesanmi, Calgary accountant Derick Lwugi, Edmonton resident Amina Ibrahim Odowa, and Odawa's five-year-old daughter Sofia Abdulkadir.