Blake Desjarlais

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Blake Desjarlais
MP
Member of Parliament
for Edmonton Griesbach
Incumbent
Assumed office
September 20, 2021
Preceded byKerry Diotte
Personal details
Born (1993-12-29) December 29, 1993 (age 28)[1][2]
NationalityCanadian
Political partyNew Democratic Party
Education
  • MacEwan University
  • University of Victoria

Blake Desjarlais (born December 29, 1993) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2021 Canadian federal election. He represents the electoral district of Edmonton Griesbach as a member of the New Democratic Party.[3]

Desjarlais is the first openly two-spirit individual to have been elected as a Member of Parliament in Canada.[4][5] Of Cree and Métis descent, Desjarlais is currently the only Indigenous MP from Alberta.[4]

Early life and education[]

Desjarlais, who is of Cree and Métis descent, is originally from the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in northern Alberta. Desjarlais' biological mother Brenda was a victim of the Sixties Scoop and spent her childhood in foster care. Brenda Desjarlais had worked as a sex worker to support herself.[6] When Brenda became pregnant with Blake, she sought help from her sister Grace Desjarlais, who took Blake and raised him herself.[7] On his adoption by his aunt, Desjarlais stated that "she saved [his] life."[6] Desjarlais' father was a carpenter who had passed away when Desjarlais was twelve.[1]

Desjarlais attended secondary school in the "predominantly white town" of Elk Point, Alberta.[8] Desjarlais went on to attend MacEwan University and the University of Victoria,[6][1] where he studied political science and indigenous studies. As a university student, Desjarlais was involved in student politics, and served as firekeeper of the Native Student Union (NSU).[9] He faced racism and discrimination during his studies as a university student. When Desjarlais completed his studies, he was appointed the national director of the in 2016.[6]

Member of Parliament[]

2021 election[]

Desjarlais had previously mulled running for an elected Indigenous leadership role. He was skeptical for running in partisan politics, seeing the various parties in only having interest in him to fulfill mandates regarding Indigenous and queer representation.[6] Upon meeting representatives from the NDP, his impression was different, stating that "[The NDP] recognized me as a whole person with expertise in a vast variety of sectors."[6]

During the 2021 election campaign, Desjarlais received support from Alberta MLAs Janis Irwin, Chris Nielsen, former Premier Rachel Notley and former Minister of Education of Alberta David Eggen.[10] According to Desjarlais, during an evening canvassing shift, they had a racist interaction with five men who mistook him for being Chinese and blamed him for the Coronavirus.[11]

On election day, Desjarlais defeated Kerry Diotte, a two-term Conservative MP, by 1,468 votes. The riding was previously considered a conservative stronghold.[7] MLA Janis Irwin likened Desjarlais' win to a lack of interest for the Liberals and anger directed towards the Conservative party due to their actions federally and provincially, on top of an insurgent People's Party siphoning off Conservative voters. This was on top of Diotte's previous vote against the ban on conversion therapy, with Irwin noting the growing LGBT community within the riding.[6]

After being elected, Desjarlais was selected to be the New Democratic Party's deputy caucus chair for the 44th Canadian Parliament.[12][6]

Electoral history[]

2021 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Blake Desjarlais 17,437 40.47
Conservative Kerry Diotte 15,969 37.07
Liberal Habiba Mohamud 5,988 13.90
People's Thomas Matty 2,632 6.11
Green Heather Lau 540 1.25
Libertarian Morgan Watson 274 1.0
Communist Alex Boykowich 140 0.0
Marxist–Leninist Mary Joyce 102 0.0
Total valid votes
Total rejected ballots
Turnout
Eligible voters
Source: Elections Canada[13]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Keith Gerein, "Young Métis candidate carries NDP hopes for a second federal seat in Edmonton". Edmonton Journal, August 27, 2021.
  2. ^ @davidakin (December 29, 2021). "Happy 28th birthday to Edmonton—Griesbach MP @DesjarlaisBlake !" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. ^ Janet French, "Conservative support sags as Albertans add Liberal, NDP MPs". CBC News Edmonton, September 21, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Bourne, Kirby. "Blake Desjarlais is Canada's first Two Spirit Canadian MP: 'We're starting to see ourselves more' | Globalnews.ca". globalnews.ca. Global News. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  5. ^ Mel Woods, "LGBTQ2S+ candidates on the issues that matters most this federal election". Xtra!, September 15, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Aiello, Rachel (23 October 2021). "'I want to leave a mark': Meet NDP Blake Desjarlais, Canada's first openly two-spirit MP". ctvnews.ca. Bell Media. CTV News. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b Michelle Bellefontaine, "Meet Blake Desjarlais, the Métis NDP candidate who just ended a Conservative stronghold in Edmonton Griesbach". CBC News, September 24, 2021.
  8. ^ "TEDxUAlberta | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  9. ^ Sauer, Myles (2016-03-17). "Carrying the torch: A chat with NSU Firekeeper Blake Desjarlais". Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  10. ^ Jeremy Appel, "NDP Candidate Blake Desjarlais wants to uplift Indigenous voices". Toronto Star, September 15, 2021.
  11. ^ Shari Narine, "Despite a difficult campaign, NDP Indigenous MP feels ‘lifted up’". Toronto Star, October 5, 2021.
  12. ^ Kirkup, Kristy (2021-10-07). "Jagmeet Singh says NDP prepared to withhold votes in Parliament". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  13. ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.

External links[]

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