Blake Desjarlais

Early Life

Blake Desjarlais grew up largely in poverty in the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in eastern Alberta. (See also History of Métis Settlements in Canada.) His mother, a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, lived in Edmonton. When Blake was 12 his father, a carpenter, died in a work-related accident. His aunt Grace ultimately became his primary caregiver.

“Canadians take for granted the tremendous wealth, privileges and rights that we have in Canada, but the reality is, not everyone enjoys them,” Desjarlais has said in an interview. “That’s what began my journey in politics — understanding why some people had them and some people didn’t; why the towns and cities had cleaning drinking water, and the reserves and Métis Settlements didn’t; why the unemployment rate was so disproportionately high in Indigenous communities.”  

Education

After high school, Blake Desjarlais attended MacEwan University in Edmonton. At first, he hoped to complete a degree in architecture. He faced intense discriminatory behaviour there, however, including a racially motivated death threat, and ultimately transferred to the University of Victoria. There, he focused on Canadian politics and Indigenous studies.  

Early Career

After graduating, Blake Desjarlais found work at the Métis Settlements General Council. Fluent in Cree, Desjarlais became the organization’s director of public and national affairs in 2016. In this position, he helped negotiate issues such as harvesting rights for Métis people. This work put Desjarlais in touch with the Rachel Notley government in Edmonton, as well as the Justin Trudeau government in Ottawa.

Political Career

In the 2021 federal election, Blake Desjarlais ran as the NDP candidate for Edmonton Griesbach. Despite his trepidations about federal politics, his frustration with the Liberal government in Ottawa had motivated him to get involved. “Working with the Liberals, it’s just so slow. There’s a lot of talk but there’s very little action,” he explained in an interview. “The reality is Indigenous people can’t wait. We’ve been waiting 150 years for our constitutional rights to be respected.”

In previous federal elections, Alberta had swung decisively for the Conservatives. The Conservative incumbent in Edmonton Griesbach, Kerry Diotte, had been in office since 2015 and had previously served on city council. Desjarlais was relatively unknown. Some viewed him as a risky and untested candidate. But he knew someone who ran an effective campaign against Diotte previously: Janis Irwin, an MLA for Edmonton and a vocal advocate of 2SLGBTQ+ rights. In particular, Desjarlais criticized Diotte for voting against a bill to ban conversion therapy — a move that was almost certainly unpopular within the Edmonton Griesbach’s growing queer community.

When the election took place on 20 September, Desjarlais won 40.5 per cent of the vote, while Diotte took 37.1 per cent.

Member of Parliament (2021–)

In Parliament, Blake Desjarlais has worked in the shadow cabinet (see Backbencher) as the NDP’s critic on Indigenous housing. He has also co-chaired the parliamentary pride caucus.

(See also Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Canada; Two-Spirit;  Queer Culture.)