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The Indian Act was first created in 1876. A new version was created in 1951. Since then, the Act has been revised several times. The main goal of the Act was to force First Nations peoples to lose their culture and become like Euro-Canadians. The Indian Act does not affect either the Métis or Inuit.

(This article is a plain-language summary of the Indian Act. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Indian Act.)

Mahmud Jamal, Supreme Court of Canada justice, Court of Appeal for Ontario judge, litigation lawyer, author, teacher (born 1967 in Nairobi, Kenya). Mahmud Jamal is the first racialized person and the first South Asian Canadian to be appointed as a justice to the Supreme Court of Canada. A former Fulbright scholar with a background in law and economics, Jamal worked as a litigator with the Toronto firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP before becoming a judge with the Court of Appeal for Ontario. He began serving on the Supreme Court on 1 July 2021.

Thomas D’Arcy McGee, journalist, politician, poet (born 13 April 1825 in Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland; died 7 April 1868 in Ottawa, ON). Thomas D’Arcy McGee was dedicated to the cause of Irish national liberation. This pushed him towards revolutionary anti-British doctrine in his early years. However, he matured to become a staunch defender of British constitutional monarchy and a Father of Confederation. He was an advocate for minority rights at a time when the politics of ethnic and religious identity were intensely fraught. He was an incredibly eloquent public speaker and a passionate advocate for Canadian interests. However, his political transformation ultimately damaged his popularity with Irish nationalists, particularly the Fenians. He was assassinated in 1868.

Hugh Burnett, civil rights activist, carpenter (born 14 July 1918 in Dresden, ON; died 29 September 1991 in London, ON). Burnett was a key figure in the fight for anti-discrimination legislation in Ontario. Through the 1940s and early 1950s, he organized tirelessly against racial discrimination in public service in his hometown of Dresden, Ontario, rising to prominence as a leader and organizer of the National Unity Association (NUA), a coalition of Black community members pushing for equal rights in Dresden and the surrounding area. He was instrumental to in bringing about legislative and legal victories for civil rights at the provincial level related to the 1954 Fair Accommodation Practices Act, an early anti-discrimination law in Ontario.

Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier, CM, chief (born 15 April 1954 in Regina, SK). Day Walker-Pelletier is the longest-serving elected chief in Canadian history. She was chief of Okanese First Nation, located near Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan, from 1981 to 2020. During her long career, Day Walker-Pelletier accomplished many goals, including establishing the structure, instruments and policies of governance for Okanese First Nation. She also took part in numerous projects related to wellness, social reform and education, focusing primarily on providing support to vulnerable women and children. Day Walker-Pelletier has been a strong advocate for preserving the language, traditions, and treaty rights of Okanese First Nation.

Jean Augustine (née Simon), PC, CM, first Black female MP and Cabinet minister, social justice advocate, teacher, principal (born 9 September 1937 in Happy Hill, Grenada). Jean Augustine was a trailblazing politician and social activist: elected the first Black female Member of Parliament (1993), appointed the first Black woman in Cabinet (2002), and named first Fairness Commissioner by the Government of Ontario (2007). Her legacy includes the federal declaration of February as Black History Month, a motion she introduced in 1995.

Pierre Poilievre, politician, Member of Parliament 2004–present, Cabinet minister, leader of the official opposition 2022–present (born 3 June 1979 in Calgary, AB). Pierre Poilievre has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ottawa riding of Carleton (formerly Nepean-Carleton) since 2004. After serving as the youngest MP in Parliament, Poilievre became a cabinet minister in the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Long known as a pugnacious partisan, Poilievre has been a fierce critic of the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Poilievre became the leader of the Conservative Party and of the Official Opposition in September 2022.

Autumn Patricia Phillips (née Kelly) (born 3 May 1978 in Montreal, QC). Autumn Phillips is the former wife of Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne (HRH The Princess Royal) and eldest grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Her daughters, Savannah and Isla Phillips, hold dual British and Canadian citizenship and are the most senior Canadians in the line of succession to the throne.

Kennedy Stewart, politician, academic, mayor of Vancouver 2018–22 (born 8 November 1966 in Halifax, Nova Scotia). Kennedy Stewart served as a Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas and Burnaby South and was a member of the federal NDP caucus. He is also an associate professor on leave at Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy. Stewart was elected the 40th mayor of Vancouver on 20 October 2018. He presided over a gridlocked and dysfunctional city council and lost his re-election bid on 15 October 2022.

Amor de Cosmos (né William Alexander Smith), newspaper editor, politician, premier of British Columbia 1872–74 (born 20 August 1825 in Windsor, NS; died 4 July 1897 in Victoria, BC). The leading proponent of Confederation in British Columbia, Amor de Cosmos played a strong role in bringing the province into Confederation. He served as British Columbia’s second premier and as a Member of Parliament. He is often cited as British Columbia’s Father of Confederation.

François Legault, businessman, politician and premier of Quebec (born 26 May 1957 in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec). Co-founder of Air Transat, François Legault was a minister in the Parti Québécois governments of Lucien Bouchard and Bernard Landry. As leader of the Coalition avenir Québec, a political party he founded in 2011, he was elected premier of Quebec on 1 October 2018. Some of his accomplishments are the adoption of Bill 21 (An Act Respecting the Laicity of the State), Bill 96, which made several amendments to the Charter of the French language, and the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

David C. Onley, 28th lieutenant-governor of Ontario (2007–14), broadcaster, writer (born 12 June 1950 in Midland, ON; died 14 January 2023). Before his appointment as Ontario's lieutenant-governor, Onley was a successful media personality and advocate for the disabled. Having contracted polio at age three, Onley was partially paralyzed from the neck down. David C. Onley was appointed Ontario's 28th lieutenant-governor on 5 September 2007, succeeding James Bartleman. On 23 September 2014, he was succeeded as lieutenant-governor by Elizabeth Dowdeswell.