Record 10 indigenous MPs elected to the House of Commons
There will be a record number of indigenous people in the House of Commons following Monday's federal election, which saw 10 indigenous MPs elected.
That's an increase of three from the 2011 election, when seven indigenous people won seats. But there was a significant shift towards Liberal representation, away from Conservative and NDP.
Of the 18 indigenous candidates the Liberals ran, eight won seats. Only one, Yvonne Jones from Labrador, was an incumbent.
Notable new Liberal MPs include Jody Wilson-Raybould, a regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations who took the newly created riding of Vancouver-Granville with just over 40 per cent of the vote.
In the inner-city riding of Winnipeg Centre, former mayoral candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette unseated longtime NDP MP Pat Martin, capturing 56 per cent of the vote.
"The goal of this campaign was never, never, never just to win. The goal of this campaign was to see your values reflected in Ottawa, to see your values reflected in our Parliament," Ouellette said Monday night.
The NDP, which ran 22 indigenous candidates, saw just two of them elected. Incumbent Romeo Saganash barely held his Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou seat in a tight race against a non-indigenous Liberal challenger.
The Green Party ran 10 indigenous candidates but none were elected.
The Conservatives, who once had four sitting indigenous MPs — the most of any party — lost every single one of them in this election. Two opted not to run again but two others were defeated, including the first Inuk cabinet minister, Leona Aglukkaq, who placed third in Nunavut.
While there were a record 54 indigenous candidates running in this election, indigenous people will end up occupying just three per cent of the 338 seats in the House of Commons:
Liberal Party of Canada
- Vance Badawey (Métis) - Niagara Centre, Ontario
- Yvonne Jones (Inuit) - Labrador
- Michael McLeod (Métis) - Northwest Territories
- Robert-Falcon Ouellette (Cree) - Winnipeg Centre, Manitoba
- Don Rusnak (Anishinaabe) - Thunder Bay-Rainy River, Ontario
- Hunter Tootoo (Inuit) - Nunavut
- Dan Vandal (Métis) - Saint Boniface-Saint Vital, Manitoba
- Jody Wilson-Raybould (Kwakwaka'wakw) - Vancouver Granville, B.C.
NDP
- Georgina Jolibois (Dene) - Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Saskatchewan
- Romeo Saganash (Cree) - Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik--Eeyou, Quebec
Those newly elected indigenous MPs now represent ridings in British Columbia, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Working relationship
Justin Trueau's Liberal Party has promised significant improvements to First Nations education, including $2.6 billion in new funding over four years, as well as a vow to call an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Trudeau also promised to end boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves within five years.
On Twitter, the head of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) congratulated the Liberals on their victory and national chief Perry Bellegarde said he looks forward to working with the new government on "closing the gap" — the AFN's plan for reducing poverty and improving education for First Nations.
Correction : An earlier version of this story said Leona Aglukkaq was the first Inuk MP. She was the first Inuk cabinet minister. (Oct 20, 2015 11:25 AM)
