Indigenous Politics #IndigPoli: House of Commons Standing on Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAN) - First Session of the 35th Parliament (2025)

The Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs (INAN) reviews, examines and reports on issues affecting First Nations, Inuit, Métis peoples and northerners.

Each party chooses who will be on the various House of Commons Standing Committees. It usually includes MPs who have experience and interest in specific committees. Ministers don't usually sit on House Committees, but their Parliamentary Secretaries do. For the opposition parties, the shadow ministers/critics sit on the respective committee for their assigned portfolio.

This is true for INAN, however, some MPs who don't have specific, or who have unrelated portfolio assignments will sit on this committee for other reasons. Such as previous work, volunteer and education experience related to Indigenous communities and peoples. Or, you will note below, some MPs who have a large number of Indigenous constituents in their electoral districts will ask to be or will just be placed on the INAN committee by their party leadership.

Unfortunately for the NDP only elected seven MPs, they lost official party status (need to have 12 MPs), which prevents them from sitting on most of the House of Commons committees.

These spots are coveted because each member gets a vote, which makes them influential. Committees have the power to fast-track legislation, slow it down to a crawl, and call witnesses (such as Ministers, department staff and other external citizens and subject matter experts) to attend a committee and take questions from committee members on specific bills and legislation.

For the first session of the 35th Parliament, there are 5 Liberal MPs, four Conservative MPs and one Bloc Québécois MP. BQ MP Sébastien Lemire plays an important role as a potential kingmaker on the INAN Committee.

Below, I break down the background information of INAN Committee members:

FOR THE LIBERAL MPs

Liberal Mi'kmaq MP Jaime Battiste is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services with 10.9% Indigenous voters in Cape Breton-Canso-Antigonish, NS. This is his second re-election, and he has noted the support of several Mi'kmaq communities in his continued success. Ginette Lavack is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Services, where 17% of the voters are Indigenous in her St. Boniface-St.Vital, MB electoral district. Brendan Hanley is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs. He is also the MP for Yukon, which has 22.1% Indigenous voters. Finally, MP Phillip Earle has 42% Indigenous voters in his Labrador electoral district, and Sault St. Marie-Algoma MP Terry Sheenan has 12.9% Indigenous voters in his electoral district.

FOR THE CONSERVATIVE MPs

Eric Meillo is the Conservative MP for Kenora-Kiiwetinoong, which has 40.4% Indigenous voters in his electoral district. He is also the CPC Shadow Minister* for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario. Former Enoch Chief Billy Morin and Conservative MP for Edmonton Northwest is the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Services. Haliburton-Kawartha Conservative MP Jamie Schmale is Shadow Minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations. Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies Conservative MP Bob Zimmer is the CPC Shadow Minister for Arctic Affairs & Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, and has 15% Indigenous voters in his electoral district.

*Shadow Minister is a term often used by the Official Opposition in place of Critic.

THE BLOC MP

Sébastien Lemire is the Bloc Québécois MP for Abitibi—Témiscamingue which has an Indigenous voter population of 15%. Lemire is Bloc Québécois Spokesperson (aka Critic) for Indigenous Relations and Northern Development.

COMMITTEE CHAIR - On Wednesday, June 18th, the INAN Committee will elect a Chair and two Vice-Chairs.

MEETINGS - https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/INAN/Meetings

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