Wab Kinew

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The Honourable
Wab Kinew
MLA
Kinew in 2023
25th Premier of Manitoba
Assumed office
October 18, 2023
MonarchCharles III
Lieutenant GovernorAnita Neville
DeputyUzoma Asagwara
Preceded byHeather Stefanson
Leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party
Assumed office
September 16, 2017
Preceded byFlor Marcelino (interim)
Leader of the Opposition in Manitoba
In office
September 16, 2017 – October 18, 2023
Preceded byFlor Marcelino
Succeeded byHeather Stefanson
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Fort Rouge
Assumed office
April 19, 2016
Preceded byJennifer Howard
Personal details
Born
Wabanakwut Kinew

(1981-12-31) December 31, 1981 (age 42)
Kenora, Ontario, Canada
Political partyNew Democratic
Spouse
Lisa Monkman
​
(m. 2014)​
[1]
Children3
ResidenceCrescentwood, Winnipeg[2]
Alma materUniversity of Manitoba (BA)
OccupationBroadcaster, university administrator, musician, author
Websitewabkinew.ca Edit this at Wikidata

Wabanakwut "Wab" Kinew MLA (/wɑːb kɪˈnuː/; born December 31, 1981) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 25th premier of Manitoba since October 18, 2023. Kinew has served as the leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) since September 16, 2017 and served as Leader of the Opposition prior to the NDP's election victory in the 2023 Manitoba general election. He represents Fort Rouge in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.

Before entering politics, Kinew was an author, musician, broadcaster and university administrator, best known as a host of programming on CBC Radio and CBC Television.[3] Kinew is Canada's first provincial premier of First Nations descent, and Manitoba's first Indigenous premier since Métis Premier John Norquay in 1887.

Early life and education

Wabanakwut "Wab" Kinew was born on December 31, 1981, in Kenora, Ontario. From the Onigaming First Nation in Northwestern Ontario, he is the son of Tobasonakwut Kinew,[4] a former local and regional chief and a professor of Indigenous governance at the University of Winnipeg, and Dr. Kathi Avery Kinew, a policy analyst.[5]

Kinew moved to suburban

private high school which Kinew said in a 2014 interview was "one of the best in Winnipeg."[7] Kinew went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Manitoba,[6] later pursuing a master’s degree in Indigenous governance.[8]

Career

Broadcasting and media

Kinew began working in broadcasting after the Winnipeg Free Press published a letter to the editor which he had written about Team Canada hockey, and a local CBC Radio producer contacted him to express interest in creating and airing a documentary feature on the matter.[4]

In 2010, Kinew was a finalist for the Future Leaders of Manitoba award and lost to Canadian filmmaker and director Adam Smoluk.[9] Other notable finalists of the award include Olympic champion Jennifer Jones, radio personality David 'Ace' Burpee,[10] friend of Bell Let's Talk Karuna (Andi) Sharma,[11] artist Kal Barteski,[12] and Canadian restaurateur and philanthropist Sachit Mehra.[13]

Kinew has been a reporter and host for the CBC's radio and television operations,

Fault Lines on Al Jazeera America.[15]

In 2014, he appeared as a panelist on CBC Radio's Canada Reads, defending Joseph Boyden's novel The Orenda.[16] The novel won the competition.

Kinew was a guest host of Q for two weeks in December 2014,[17] and moderated the 2015 edition of Canada Reads.[18]

Music

After being a member of the hip-hop groups Slangblossom and the Dead Indians

Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award for Best Rap/Hip-Hop CD.[20] His second CD, Mide-Sun, followed in 2010.[21]

Albums

Year Album details Awards
2009 Live By the Drum
  • Released: January 24, 2009
 Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award
2010 Mide-Sun
  • Released: September 4, 2010

University administration

In 2011, the

Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.[4]

On October 25, 2014, Kinew received an honorary doctorate degree from Cape Breton University.[22]

Books

Kinew has written a total of four books—

Penguin Canada.[23]

The Reason You Walk is a memoir that chronicles the year 2012, during which Kinew strove to reconnect with the Indigenous man who raised him. In the book, Kinew details his point of view on several controversial matters related to his past, including convictions resulting from alcoholism, his assault of a taxicab driver, and misogynistic and homophobic lyrics from his music career.[24] A reviewer for The Globe and Mail commented: "the undeniable significance of The Reason You Walk's message, and the fact that the book holds so much for both aboriginal and non-aboriginal readers, makes it a must-read. This is not just a memoir, it's a meditation on the purpose of living." Kinew was honoured with the 2016 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for non-fiction, for this book, which comes with a $10,000 cash award.[25]

In 2018, Kinew published a children's book,

Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature – illustrated shortlist.[27]

In 2021, Kinew released

young adult fantasy novel published by Penguin Teen, in which an Indigenous teen girl is caught between the real world and a virtual video-game universe.[28] The book won Kinew an Aurora Award for science fiction and fantasy in 2022.[29]

Political career

Kinew considered running for the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations in its 2014 leadership election,[30] but decided not to mount a campaign as he was newly married in August and felt that it was not the right time to be away from home for an extended period.[4]

In 2016, he was announced as a

opposition critic for Education, Advanced Learning, and Training, as well as for Housing and Community Development.[35]

Kinew was a candidate in the 2017 Manitoba NDP leadership election; at the September 16 convention, he defeated the only other candidate, former cabinet minister Steve Ashton, by a margin of 728 votes to 253. This made Kinew the first elected First Nations leader of a major party in Manitoba's history.[36]

In 2017, Kinew introduced Bill 223 to mark September 30 as

Orange Shirt Day, a day meant to honour residential school survivors,[37] while in 2019, he introduced Bill 228, the Sikh Heritage Month Act.[38][39] Later in 2019 Kinew also put forward a private member's bill that would bestow title of honorary first premier to Métis leader Louis Riel and require Riel's contributions be part of the school curriculum.[40]

Kinew led the Manitoba NDP into the 2019 provincial election; the party gained six seats but the Progressive Conservative Party were re-elected to a majority.[41]

Kinew continued as leader after the 2019 election, following which the NDP gained a lead over the governing PCs in polling. Ahead of the 2023 provincial election, the race tightened during the campaign period.[42] The NDP campaign focused on healthcare reform.[43] The NDP won the election, making Kinew the first First Nations person, and second Indigenous person overall, to be elected a provincial premier in Canada.[44][45]

Premier of Manitoba

Kinew was sworn in as Premier of Manitoba on October 18, 2023.[46]

Personal life

Kinew recounts that he "experienced racially motivated assaults by adults" during his time growing up in suburban Winnipeg.[5]

Some time after moving out of his parents' home at the age of 19, Kinew began experiencing problems with alcohol.[24]

On February 24, 2003, Kinew was arrested in Winnipeg, after he was spotted erratically driving his father's 2000

impaired driving.[47]

In June 2003, Kinew was charged by the

domestic assault related to allegations that he threw his then-girlfriend, Tara Hart, across a room during an argument.[48] A Crown attorney and Kinew's lawyer appeared in court several times between January and June 2004.[49] The charges were subsequently stayed. Kinew denies the allegations, while Hart has continued to maintain otherwise.[48][49] These charges were previously unknown to most during Kinew's public life, only coming to light in 2017 via anonymous emails sent to Winnipeg media outlets. Hart has said that she can only recall one alleged assault and does not know why two charges were filed. She claims that after she left Kinew, she was living outside Winnipeg and never heard from the Crown on why the charges were stayed.[49]

On June 27, 2004, while bound by a court

Portage Avenue and Fort Street." While stopped at a red light, Kinew exited the vehicle, approached the driver's side door window, which was open, and punched the driver in the face. A passerby yelled out and momentarily interrupted the assault. When the driver exited the cab, Kinew pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to CBC News. Kinew attempted to flee the scene when police arrived, and Kinew declined to discuss the incident after being taken into custody. The taxi driver suffered a small laceration to his elbow and swelling to his face.[50] On page 70 of his 2015 memoir, The Reason You Walk, Kinew claimed he had grabbed a cab with friends and "hopped out without paying," after which:[24]

[T]he driver caught up with us and pushed me. I turned around and shoved him back. A passing cabbie saw what was happening, stopped his taxi and jumped out to help his fellow driver. He swung and hit me in the face. I grabbed him and swung back. We stood in the middle of the street, arms flailing in full-on

hockey fight mode. The police showed up and tackled me.

It has been pointed out that Kinew's account of the incident in his book heavily differs from what was heard in court during his 2004 sentencing hearing.[24]

Also in 2004, Kinew was given a

conditional discharge for an assault in Ontario after getting into a fight.[51][52] Kinew also claims that in 2006 he was charged with stealing a money order, but that charge was stayed when he repaid the money.[52]

Kinew has gone through various exercises to rehabilitate himself from his issues with alcohol, including attending sweat lodges and a sun dance event where he fasted for four days and pulled buffalo skulls by piercings cut into his body. Kinew also began attending regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.[24]

Kinew has since quit drinking and, in 2014, applied for a pardon from the Canadian government, which was granted by the Parole Board of Canada in 2016. The Parole Board ruling removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre database references to his convictions on assaulting a taxi driver, a Driving Under the Influence conviction for refusing a breathalyzer sample, and two breaches of court orders.[53]

In September 2016, Kinew married Dr. Lisa Monkman, an Ojibway family physician who practises medicine at an inner-city clinic.[6][54][55] The couple welcomed a son in May 2017.[56] Kinew has two sons from a previous relationship.[5]

Kinew is

trilingual: he speaks Ojibwe, English and French.[57]

Electoral record

2023 Manitoba general election: Fort Rouge
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Wab Kinew 6,761 70.57 +19.33 $23,088.15
Progressive Conservative Rejeanne Caron 1,566 16.34 -2.48 $0.00
Liberal Katherine Johnson 1,152 12.02 -1.05 $5,193.76
Communist
 Robert Crooks 102 1.06 – $106.40
Total valid votes/Expense limit 9,581 99.59 – $64,588.00
Total rejected and declined ballots 39 0.41 –
Turnout 9,620 58.04 -0.73
Eligible voters 16,576
New Democratic hold Swing +10.90
Source(s)
Source: Elections Manitoba[58][59][60]
2019 Manitoba general election: Fort Rouge
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Wab Kinew 5,055 51.24 13.60 $23,922.64
Progressive Conservative Edna Nabess 1,857 18.82 -9.97 $7,290.07
Green James Beddome 1,580 16.01 5.00 $8,974.33
Liberal Cyndy Friesen 1,290 13.08 -7.00 $8,223.63
Manitoba First Michael McCracken 54 0.55 -1.41 $582.58
Manitoba Forward
 Bradley Hebert 30 0.30 – $0.00
Total valid votes 9,866 – –
Rejected 47 –
Eligible voters / Turnout 16,870 58.76 -6.39
Source(s)
Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). Statement of Votes for the 42nd Provincial General Election, September 10, 2019 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.
"Candidate Election Returns". Elections Manitoba. Elections Manitoba. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
2016 Manitoba general election: Fort Rouge
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Wab Kinew 3,360 37.63 -13.63 $39,199.49
Progressive Conservative Audrey Gordon 2,571 28.80 8.64 $42,245.54
Liberal Rana Bokhari 1,792 20.07 -3.06 $30,238.82
Green Grant Sharp 983 11.01 5.57 $322.90
Manitoba
 Matthew Ostrove 175 1.96 – $945.26
Communist
 Paula Ducharme 47 0.53 – $33.67
Total valid votes / expense limit 8,928 – – $44,855.00
Rejected 125 –
Eligible voters / Turnout 13,896 65.15 3.92
New Democratic hold Swing –11.04
Source(s)
Source: Manitoba. Chief Electoral Officer (2016). Statement of Votes for the 41st Provincial General Election, April 19, 2016 (PDF) (Report). Winnipeg: Elections Manitoba.
"Election Returns: 41st General Election". Elections Manitoba. 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2018.

References

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  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ a b DeMara, Bruce (January 17, 2012). "CBC series 8th Fire aims to dispel native stereotypes". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e Colbert, Sam (December 15, 2014). "Wab Kinew: behind the voice of CBC's Q guest host". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d "The accidental journalist: Wab Kinew emerges as contender to host Q" Archived January 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine. The Globe and Mail, December 19, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d "Kinew might be in queue to host Q: Guest spot last month piqued his interest." Winnipeg Free Press, January 9, 2015.
  7. ^ "Wab Kinew discusses education at Thunder Bay orientation" Archived December 31, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Wawatay News, September 18, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Wab Kinew | Education with Impact - 2 | The University of Winnipeg". www.uwinnipeg.ca. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  9. ^ "FTM's Adam Smoluk wins Future Leaders of MB award". Film Training Manitoba. February 5, 2010. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  10. ^ Wilson, Jill (August 15, 2019). "Honey of an idea: Winnipeg DJ turns made-in-Manitoba condiment into potato chip flavour for charity". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
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  13. ^ Sanderson, David (April 27, 2014). "Butter chicken in every pot..." Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
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  25. ^ "Second Annual Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Winners Announced". Kobo. June 21, 2016. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved June 11, 2019. Camilla Gibb, Author and Non-Fiction Judge, says: 'Wab Kinew's story is a deeply moving memoir about the possibility of forgiveness and healing within a family, a community and a country coming to terms with the damaging legacy of the residential school system. The son of an Anishinaabe chief and a non-native woman, Kinew moves within two worlds, as did his father, both seeking to reconcile conflicting parts of selves shaped by different cultural forces. Wab Kinew's book is a gift to this country.'
  26. Kingston Whig-Standard. September 21, 2018. Archived
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  29. ^ July, Ashly (August 16, 2022). "Fonda Lee, Wab Kinew and Premee Mohamed among winners of 2022 Aurora Awards for science fiction and fantasy". CBC. p. 1. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
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  32. ISSN 0319-0781
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  33. Sault Star
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  35. ^ "News in brief: MLAs appointed as critics". Winnipeg Free Press. May 16, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
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  37. ^ "Manitoba NDP call on government to make Orange Shirt Day a statutory holiday". CTV News Winnipeg. November 26, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  38. ^ "Kinew Bill to Celebrate Sikh Heritage Month Passes in Legislature". Manitoba NDP. May 29, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  39. ^ "Bill 228 - Passed!". Sikh Heritage Manitoba. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
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  41. ^ "Manitoba Election: Incumbent premier Brian Pallister's full victory speech after PCs re-elected". Global News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
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  45. ^ "Wab Kinew makes history as Manitoba NDP projected to form government - Winnipeg". Global News. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  46. ^ Patterson, Kelsey (October 18, 2023). "Wab Kinew sworn in as Manitoba premier". CityNews Winnipeg. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
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  49. ^ a b c Lambert, Steve (September 15, 2017). "Woman at centre of Wab Kinew domestic assault allegations says she was thrown". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on September 18, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  50. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  51. ^ Froese, Ian. 2019 August 14. "Raising Wab Kinew's troubled past makes sense, but still fraught with peril, political experts say Archived August 28, 2023, at the Wayback Machine." CBC News. 2017 September 24. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  52. ^ a b "Manitoba NDP leadership candidate Wab Kinew addresses more brushes with law". TBNewsWatch.com. Canadian Press. August 18, 2017. Archived from the original on August 28, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  53. ^ Martin, Nick (September 20, 2017). "Sep 2017: Kinew sought pardon for crimes before running for office". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  54. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  55. ^ CBC News (October 30, 2014). "Indigenous physician brings unique perspective to her practice". CBC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  56. ^ CBC News (November 24, 2017). "NDP Leader Wab Kinew and wife expecting a baby". CBC. Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  57. ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Politique- (October 4, 2023). "Qui est Wab Kinew, le premier membre d'une Première Nation à diriger une province? | Élections au Manitoba 2023 | Radio-Canada.ca". Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). Archived from the original on October 4, 2023. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  58. ^ "Summary of Votes Received" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
  59. ^ "CANDIDATE ELECTION RETURNS GENERAL ELECTION 2023". Elections Manitoba. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  60. ^ "2023 GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE AND REGISTERED PARTY ELECTION EXPENSE LIMITS - FINAL EXPENSE LIMIT" (PDF). Elections Manitoba. Retrieved May 4, 2024.

External links

Order of precedence
Preceded byas Premier of New Brunswick Canadian order of precedence
as Premier of Manitoba 		Succeeded byas Premier of British Columbia
Preceded byas Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba Order of precedence in Manitoba
as Premier of Manitoba 		Succeeded byas Chief Justice of Manitoba
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