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
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
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
| 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
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "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.