Elected Indigenous MPs from 1960 to Date. By #indigpolli

December 13, 2025

Indigenous MPs from 1960 to Date 

BY INDIGENOUS POLITICS (#INDIGPOLI) EDITOR 

 

Greetings, Tansi, Danit'ada, Aaniin, Oki and Hello!

 

With all news going on in federal politics, I’ve been waiting to post this article. Then I thought, if not, when. It's been a while since I have written an article on #indigpoli, so today is a good day to do so. In an attempt to transfer my blog to a website, I have lost years of data. Much of it is in my X/Twitter account, in posts and images. It through me off with all the work I've done over the past 10-plus years on ‘politics through and Indigenous lens’. So, elections continue to happen, Indigenous people continue to have the right to vote, organize for specific campaigns or political parties, and run as candidates at all levels. 

I am writing today about Indigenous Members of Parliament, from information I have researched from the Library of Parliament of Canada, about Indigenous parliamentarians elected to the house of commons. . Why start at 1960? It's when First Nations got the enfranchise and were given the right to vote. Inuit were fully given the right to vote at the federal level in 1950, when Parliament decided that Inuit were distinct from First Nations peoples. Voting restrictions were not formally imposed on Métis: they were allowed to vote if they met the gender, age, citizenship and property ownership conditions was known. A Métis man was elected to Parliament in 1871. Métis women got the vote in 1918 along with most Canadian women. Louis Riel was even elected in the Provencher riding as an Independent MP in 1874 and again in 1875 , but he never take office. 

 

"The right to vote, which most Canadians take for granted, was a hard-fought battle for Indigenous Peoples. In most parts of Canada, First Nations were offered the right to vote at the time of Confederation - but only if they gave up their treaty rights and Indian status. Understandably, few were willing to do this. Métis People were not excluded from voting as few were covered by treaties, therefore there was nothing to justify disqualifying them. Inuit were excluded and no steps were taken to include them as most communities were geographically isolated so, in the absence of special efforts to enable them to vote, they had no means of exercising the right." - Indigenous Corporate Training (Retrieved Dec. 4, 2024)

In 1960, First Nations men and women were granted the right to vote in federal elections without conditions. They could vote whether they lived on or off reserve, and they no longer had to give up their Indian status under the law to vote. Voting rights for all Canadian citizens were enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker appointed an Indigenous introduced the Bill of Rights which further reinforced the right to vote. PM Diefenbaker also appointed the First Nations Indigenous Senator - James Gladstone (from the Blood/Kainai Nation) in 1958 to the senate. The 1962 election was the first election in which all three recognized Indigenous peoples had the right to vote. 

In 1982 the federal government enshrined Aboriginal rights in Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution, and in Section 25 of the Charter of Rights of Freedoms, the government further ensured that Charter rights cannot “abrogate or derogate” from Aboriginal rights. The federal government recognized three Aboriginal peoples: First Nations, Inuit and the Metis, who were the result of certain First Nations (mainly Cree and Anishinaabe) women mixing with European men, and their descendants being a mix of the two peoples, focussed around the Red River and former areas of the former North West Territories (Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and NWT.) and northwestern Ontario. 

To date, according to the Library of Parliament, there have been 45 Indigenous people elected as a Member of Parliament to the House of Commons since 1960. That would be 24 from the Liberal Party of Canada, 8 from the New Democratic Party, 7 from the Conservative Party of Canada, 3 Progressive Conservatives and 1 from the short-lived Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance and Reform Party. In terms of Indigenous breakdown, that's 15 First Nations, 14 Metis and 8 Inuit people elected since 1960 to date.  

 Indigenous MPs 1960 to 2024

 

A selection of First Nation, Metis and Inuit MP from the

Liberal, Conservative, New Democratic Party (NDP), 

former Progressive Conservative and Bloc Quebecois.

I have seen changes over my years following Indigenous MPs and candidates and I have worked over the years to confirm candidates and MPs background, particularly as it relates to First Nation, Metis and Inuit peoples. It would appear as though the recording of MPs hasn't been a perfect process. With the rise of "Pretendianism", people using Indigenous identity for various benefits including financial, popular recognition and gain in various positions.

The concern of candidates claiming Indigenous identity is that some aren't Indigenous, or they say they are Indigenous without stating their background and what Indigenous nation they belong too Think of "National Chief Bertrand" of the Congress of Aboriginal people, who cannot remember his Indigenous roots. CAP is an organitzation That's simple if they have status or membership in recognized First Nations, Inuit and Metis Nations. Secondly, they could state they have Indigenous identity and have enough source materials (news articles, historical documents and other educational publications). 

 One challenge is we have Indigenous "allies" who sometimes morph into Indigenous people. Instead, they should state their relationship to the Indigenous Nations rather than saying they belong too it. There are cases where First Nations adopt an Individual or a First Nation family does the same. They are also instances where a non-First Nation person participates in native spirituality and are blessed with a native 'spiritual name' by a First Nations elder or spiritual knowledge keeper. This does not and should not mean that this person is First Nation. They should keep this blessing private and at best, state they practice 'native spirituality', that's between the person and the people who have bestowed the name. 

 If it hasn't already happened, which it likely has this could mean candidates claiming Indigenous identity in ridings where the Indigenous voting base make up 50% or 20% of the electorate, or have the potential to make or break the results of the riding with even 5% of the riding voting for them because their are voters who vote Indigenous first because they beleive in that candidate and increased representation of Indigenous people in Parliament. 

 In the history of this blog (@indigpoli) I have been watching current political leaders and they are making a significant effort to engage Indigenous voters with pro-Indigenous policy announcements, speaking at Indigenous events like AFN assemblies, or provincial or local events, the same goes for attendance at Inuit and Metis events. Indigenous people aren't a political monolith, they do tend to support parties that speak to them. Some choose "Indigenous first", meaning voting for a candidate, supporting a party leader, that speaks to that Indigenous voters. Others, like other Canadians support party and party leaders first when they choose who they are going to vote for. 

 There are a lot nuances with Indigenous identity, including those lost in the Child Welfare system, 60's to modern (CFS) Scoop as well as reinstated Indigenous women and children through Bill C-31 and Bill S-3 (McIvor). There is also First Nations repatriating their membership codes (laws) and in some cases, making it very difficult to for potential members to join. This is my concern with both of my parents First Nation's membership. One of them have very restrictive clauses that make it difficult to join. The other has an uneducated Chief and Council who fail at policy and governance, and I fear they could make generational mistakes. This isn't meant to insult some leaders, I understand in the past, this was not the priority for some First Nations. But one of the reasons First Nations signed Treaty is so that First Nation wold have education equal to that of the "white man", in MY view that's means at the least having a grade 12 education, but having a post-secondary is favourable when they are negotiating and creating laws that affect their/our membership.  

There is a great deal of work ahead with finding out and confirming Parliamentarians 'Indigenous Identity', the first check is the elected individual or candidates being honest about their Indigenous status and background. There are tons of records that exist to prove status and official attachment to community. There is ISC and the federal Indian Registrar for First Nations, including records like marriage, birth, death and religious records like the previous I mention, but also include record like baptism and marriage. But the individuals lost in the system will need to do the work and find the records to see where they belong. The First Nations also have work to do to find their people out there -- Nationless. Some First Nations making restrictive membership codes, they should be working to bringing their people home.  

There are Inuit land claims and governments including: Nunavut (which is its own territory), Inuvialuit in NWT & Yukon, Nunavik which is northern Quebec, there is Nunatsiavut in Northern Labrador -- all making up Inuit Nunangat. There is NunatuKavut which is controversial to some Inuit, they used to call themselves Labrador Inuit or Metis. However the ITK which represents the four Inuit Nunangat region states that NunatuKavut have no Inuit standing. 

 

Two members of Parliament have been from: NunatuKavut formerly Todd Russell and currently Yvonne Jones who is a Parliamentary Secretary for Northern Affairs and National Defence. Within the Parliamentary online record, Todd Russel is listed as Metis and Yvonne Jones is the listed at Inuit.Then there is the issue of non-Status First Nations claiming to a member of a nation or if not that, then claiming to be Métis. This is the case of Marc Serre, who claims Algonquin from an ancestor pretty far back, he was also removed from the the Alongquins of Ontario registry - so that's pretty big. Does he have he right to call himself Indigenous? Or is he now an "ally" with a distant relative? 

My approach to proving Indigeneity of MPs and Senators (just getting started) is first to check their website and social media and see what they state: First Nation, Metis and Inuit, secondly is to check their social media, finally I look for articles that state that the individual is in fact Indigenous. I don't bother to ask the First Nation, Inuit region or the Metis Nation, because of privacy laws. The Metis Nation itself seems to be in a little bit of an identity crisis, with its regions and membership. But they do have excellent records through Script and the Catholic Church. 

It's not my job to say who is and isn't Indigenous (First Nation, Metis and Inuit), it is my job to report the information and stats I provide as accurate on my blog with the best possible sources. It's my job to find the sources to prove that the people who say they have Indigenous ancestry, have proof. 

If you have any ideas on how I can work to ensure candidates are actually Indigenous, I am open to ideas. I look forward to my path ahead in doing that and ensuring my blog and social media represent the best possible accurate information. I appreciate feedback, please feel free to contact me and share your thoughts with me. 

Ekosi!

 

NEXT ARTICLE: INDIGENOUS IN THE CANADIAN SENATE 

AFTER THAT: THE ELECTION WILL BE HERE SOONER THEN WE KNOW IT, ARE WE PREPARED? 

PART 1

PART II

PART III

-- END OF ARTICLE --