Jaime Battiste
Jaime Battiste | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Sydney—Victoria | |
| Assumed office October 21, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Eyking |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1979 (age 44–45) Eskasoni First Nation, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Canada |
| Residence | Eskasoni, Nova Scotia[1] |
Jaime Battiste MP (born 1979) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Sydney—Victoria in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Liberal Party in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[2] He is the first Mi'kmaw Member of Parliament in Canada.[3]
Early life and education
[edit]Battiste is the son of Chickasaw legal scholar James (Sákéj) Youngblood Henderson and Miꞌkmaq scholar Marie Battiste.[4] Battiste is a graduate of Dalhousie Law School.
Battiste spent his formative years in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, graduating from Evan Hardy Collegiate in 1997.
Political career
[edit]In April 2019, Battiste announced he was seeking the Liberal nomination in Sydney—Victoria for the 2019 federal election.[5] He won the nomination on July 13, 2019.[6]
In early October 2019 Battiste created controversy when comments he previously made on social media were reported. In 2012, Battiste tweeted: "Why do I assume every skinny Aboriginal girl is on crystal meth or pills?" In another, he made light of sexual assault, tweeting "five minutes in Cheers and I would accidently [sic] sexually assault a cougar … twice."[7]
Battiste apologized for the comments. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau refused to remove him as the Liberal candidate.[8]
On October 21, 2019, Battiste was elected as the Member of Parliament in Sydney—Victoria becoming the first Mi'kmaq Member of Parliament.[9]
On December 3, 2021, Battiste was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.[10]
Electoral record
[edit]| 2021 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Jaime Battiste | 14,250 | 39.2 | +8.3 | $68,768.55 | |||
| Conservative | Eddie Orrell | 13,166 | 36.3 | +8.6 | none listed | |||
| New Democratic | Jeff Ward | 7,217 | 19.9 | -0.2 | $11,605.07 | |||
| People's | Ronald Angus Barron | 1,176 | 3.2 | N/A | $1,145.74 | |||
| Green | Mark Embrett | 376 | 1.0 | -4.5 | $0.00 | |||
| Marxist–Leninist | Nikki Boisvert | 127 | 0.3 | N/A | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 36,312 | 98.7 | ±0.0 | $102,433.21 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 472 | 1.3 | ±0.0 | |||||
| Turnout | 36,784 | 61.6 | -6.5 | |||||
| Registered voters | 59,757 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -0.2 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[11][12] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Sydney—Victoria | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Jaime Battiste | 12,536 | 30.90 | −42.30 | $63,429.21 | |||
| Conservative | Eddie Orrell | 11,227 | 27.68 | +17.04 | none listed | |||
| New Democratic | Jodi McDavid | 8,146 | 20.08 | +7.02 | none listed | |||
| Independent | Archie MacKinnon | 5,679 | 14.00 | New | none listed | |||
| Green | Lois Foster | 2,249 | 5.54 | +3.04 | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Kenzie MacNeil | 480 | 1.18 | New | none listed | |||
| Veterans Coalition | Randy Joy | 248 | 0.61 | New | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 40,565 | 98.72 | $99,536.07 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 528 | 1.28 | +0.71 | |||||
| Turnout | 41,093 | 68.12 | −0.84 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 60,322 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | −29.67 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[13] | ||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ "Battiste, Kelloway continue Liberal rule in Cape Breton". The Chronicle-Herald. October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- ^ Fraser, Jeremy (October 21, 2019). "VIDEO: Jaime Battiste becomes first Mi'kmaw MP after winning riding of Sydney-Victoria". capebretonpost.com. Cape Breton Post. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "July". CBU.ca. Cape Breton University. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Local Mi'kmaq leader to seek Liberal nomination in Sydney-Victoria". Cape Breton Post. April 24, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019 – via PressReader.
- ^ "Battiste wins Liberal nomination for Sydney-Victoria". capebretonpost.com. Cape Breton Post. July 13, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "'I take full responsibility': Cape Breton Liberal candidate apologizes for social media posts". October 7, 2019.
- ^ "Trudeau won't remove Jaime Battiste from Liberal roster for racist, sexist social-media posts". National Post.
- ^ MacDonald, Michael (October 22, 2019). "Meet Jaime Battiste: Nova Scotia's first Mi'kmaq member of Parliament". Global News - Canada. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
- ^ "Prime Minister welcomes new parliamentary secretaries". Prime Minister of Canada. December 3, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ "Confirmed candidates — Sydney—Victoria". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "September 20, 2021 General Election Election Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1979 births
- Living people
- 21st-century First Nations people
- Chickasaw people
- Indigenous Members of the House of Commons of Canada
- Lawyers in Nova Scotia
- Liberal Party of Canada MPs
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Nova Scotia
- Eskasoni First Nation people
- Schulich School of Law alumni
- 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada