Romeo Saganash

Saganash was born on October 28, 1961 in Waswanipi, a native community in Quebec.[4] At the age of seven, he was among 27 Cree children taken from their homes to attend a French-language residential school in La Tuque, where he lived with an English-speaking Anglican family.[5] The program was cancelled the following year, but he remained there for ten years, completing his schooling in French.[6] After that, he attended a meeting on the negotiations between the Cree and government officials on constitutional and resource rights, which sparked his interest in pursuing a law degree. He attended law school at the Université du Québec à Montréal and in 1989 he became the first Cree to receive a law degree in Quebec.[7] Saganash is fluent in Cree, French and English.[4][8]

Saganash at the 2012 NDP leadership convention in Toronto.

In 1985, Saganash founded the Cree Nation Youth Council.[9] He was the Deputy Grand Chief to The Grand Council of the Crees of James Bay from 1990 to 1993,[2] and he later served as director of Quebec relations and international affairs for over ten years.[10] From 1997 to 2000, Saganash chaired the James Bay Advisory Committee on the Environment.[9]

As a prominent Cree figure in a riding with many Indigenous peoples, Saganash received personal support from NDP Quebec lieutenant Tom Mulcair, who referred to Saganash as a "very important candidate".[10] He was elected in the 2011 federal election to represent Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.[4] He was one of 59 NDP MPs elected for Quebec ridings (all newcomers to Parliament except Mulcair), and the party overall achieved its best showing in a federal election to date by becoming Official Opposition to the Conservative government, which rose from minority to majority standing.

On September 16, 2011, Saganash announced that he was running for the leadership of the NDP, to succeed Jack Layton, who had died the previous month.[11] He is believed to be the first Indigenous person to run for the leadership of a major Canadian party.[8] He withdrew on February 9, 2012, however, citing illness in his family and a lack of confidence in his campaign.[12] On March 7, 2012, Saganash announced that he would support Mulcair for NDP leader.[13]

After an incident where he was removed from an Air Canada Jazz flight from Montreal to Val-d'Or for intoxication, Saganash took sick leave in October 2012 for the treatment of alcohol dependency. Saganash cited the death of his "friend and mentor" Jack Layton, as well as the "profound scars" he received while in the residential school system, as the reasons for his dependency.[14] He completed his treatment in November 2012, and returned for the start of the House's first session of 2013.[15]

In the 2015 Canadian federal election, Saganash was re-elected to a second term. The NDP fell from second to third in the seat count nationally, behind the new Liberal majority government and the Conservatives.

In the 2017 NDP leadership election, Saganash supported Niki Ashton.[16]

By July 2018, Saganash had decided not to run in the 43rd Canadian federal election, which took place in 2019.[17]

• 2012 New Democratic Party leadership election

• Romeo Saganash – Parliament of Canada biography
• Romeo Saganash on Facebook
• Leadership campaign website