Canada’s first First Nations provincial premier elected in Manitoba

On October 3, 2023 C.E., Manitoba voters made history by electing Wab Kinew as the province’s first First Nations provincial premier — and handing his New Democratic Party a legislative majority. The 41-year-old Anishinaabe leader, son of an Onigaming First Nation chief, defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative premier Heather Stefanson in an election that drew national and international attention.

At a glance

• First Nations premier: Kinew is the first First Nations person elected to lead a Canadian province, marking a milestone in the country’s political history that advocates say reflects growing Indigenous representation at the highest levels of government.
• NDP majority government: The New Democratic Party secured a full legislative majority, giving Kinew the mandate to pursue his core platform commitments including reopening three emergency rooms closed in recent years.
• Indigenous leadership in Manitoba: The province’s first Indigenous premier was Métis politician John Norquay, who took office in 1878 C.E. — making Kinew only the second, and the first to identify as First Nations, in nearly 150 years.

Who is Wab Kinew

Before entering politics, Kinew built a varied public life. He worked as a rapper, a broadcast journalist, and a university administrator — a biography that cuts against the narrow mold of conventional politicians.

He grew up on Onigaming First Nation land in Ontario before eventually settling in Manitoba, where he rose to lead the provincial NDP in 2017 C.E. His path to the premiership was not without difficulty. During the campaign, his opponents highlighted a criminal charge for assault and one for impaired driving from earlier in his life. Kinew addressed those chapters directly and publicly.

“I was given a second chance in life,” he told supporters. “And I would like to think that I’ve made good on that opportunity.”

A victory speech aimed at Indigenous youth

In his victory address, Kinew turned to speak directly to young Indigenous people across Canada — a gesture that set the tone for what his premiership might mean beyond Manitoba’s borders.

“I want to speak to the young neechies out there,” he said, using an Ojibway word for friend. “My life became immeasurably better when I stopped making excuses and I started looking for a reason. And I found that reason in our family, I found that reason in our community.”

He acknowledged that Indigenous youth still face deep systemic barriers and harmful stereotypes, but pledged that his government would create real opportunities and supports. His win drew a gracious concession from Stefanson, who said she hoped the result would inspire Indigenous youth to engage in democratic life “not just here in Manitoba but right across the country.”

What the win means — and what comes next

Kinew’s victory arrives at a moment of growing Indigenous political representation across Canada, though First Nations leaders continue to push for greater sovereignty, better healthcare access, and resolution of longstanding land rights claims. Manitoba itself has a large Indigenous population — Statistics Canada data shows roughly 18 percent of the province identifies as Indigenous — making the province a particularly meaningful place for this milestone to occur.

His government’s immediate priorities include reopening shuttered emergency rooms and investing in social housing — practical commitments that will test whether electoral history can translate into material change for the people most in need. International media coverage noted the win also provided a political boost to federal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal government had faced a bloc of conservative premiers across most provinces.

Still, the symbolic power of the moment was not lost on anyone in the room. “Look what little old Manitoba did tonight,” Kinew said. “We elected a strong team of New Democrats to fix healthcare and make your life more affordable.”

Representation at the top of government does not automatically resolve the structural inequalities that Indigenous communities across Canada and globally continue to face — from housing to healthcare to land rights. Kinew’s government will be judged on how far it moves those needles. But in a country still reckoning with the legacy of residential schools and broken treaties, an Anishinaabe man standing as premier of a Canadian province is a marker that few would have predicted a generation ago.

Read more

For more on this story, see: The Guardian

For more from Good News for Humankind, see:

• Indigenous land rights gain global momentum ahead of COP30
• Marie-Louise Eta becomes first female head coach in men’s top-flight European football
• The Good News for Humankind archive on Canada

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