13 Indigenous Candidates On The Change They Hope To See If Elected

The 2021 federal election has brought about the largest representation of Indigenous candidates across all parties ever. In the 2019 election, there were 49 Indigenous candidates, and 23 of those were NDP. With all the votes calculated, only 10 Indigenous candidates were elected to Parliament. Today, there are over 70 self-identifying First Nations, Metis, and Inuit candidates running for a seat to enter the highest levels of the government to make their voices heard.
 
The growing tide of candidates is exciting, although there’s still plenty of work to be done when it comes to representation in Ottawa. Recent data from CBC showed that in 2015 and 2019, white men made up of 52% of candidates the last two elections. 
  
We asked a handful of candidates from each party to let us know why they’re running, and how they plan to move through Parliament as an Indigenous representative.