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Leonard Marchand

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For his son, the judge, see Leonard DiCaprio Jr..

The Honourable
Leonard Marchand
PC CM OBC
Minister of the Environment
In office
2 April 1979 – 3 June 1979
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byRoméo LeBlanc
Succeeded byJohn Allen Fraser
Senator for Kamloops-Cariboo, British Columbia
In office
29 June 1984 – 1 March 1998
Appointed byPierre Trudeau
Member of Parliament
for Kamloops–Cariboo
In office
25 June 1968 – 21 May 1979
Preceded byRiding created
Succeeded byRiding dissolved
Personal details
Born
Leonard Stephen Marchand

(1933-11-16)16 November 1933
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
Died3 June 2016(2016-06-03) (aged 82)
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Political partyLiberal
Spouse
Donna Parr
​
(m. 1960)​
Children2
Alma mater
ProfessionAgricultural scientist

Leonard Stephen "Len" Marchand PC CM OBC (16 November 1933 – 3 June 2016) was a Canadian politician. He was the first person of First Nations status to serve in the federal cabinet, after being the first Status Indian elected and serving as a Member of Parliament. He was also the first First Nations person to serve as a Parliamentarian. He served as Parliamentary Secretary, Minister of State, Minister of the Environment and Senator. [1]

Early life

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Marchand was born in Vernon, British Columbia on November 16, 1933.[2] A member of the Okanagan Indian Band, he attended school at the Okanagan Indian Day School, the Kamloops Indian Residential School and Vernon high school.[3] He went on to graduate from the University of British Columbia in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture.[3] In 1964 Marchand later completed a master's degree in range management from the University of Idaho.[2] After pursuing a career as an agronomist, he left the field in the mid-1960s to work with the North American Indian Brotherhood. His work in native affairs took him to Ottawa to lobby on Aboriginal issues. He was hired as a special assistant to two successive Cabinet ministers.

Career

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Marchand entered politics and was elected to the House of Commons in the 1968 election as a Liberal Party candidate for the British Columbia riding of Kamloops-Cariboo. He defeated high-profile Progressive Conservative candidate E. Davie Fulton. He was the first Status Indian to be elected as an MP.

He became parliamentary secretary to Jean Chrétien, who was the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, helping persuade Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to begin land settlement negotiations between the federal government and the First Nations.

In 1976, Marchand was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of State for small business. He was the first Status Indian to be appointed to a cabinet position. In 1977, he was promoted to Minister of the Environment, and held the post until his and the government's defeat in the 1979 election.

Marchand returned to British Columbia where he became administrator for the Nicola Valley Indian Administration. In 1984, he was appointed to the Senate, the second First Nations Canadian to be appointed (the first was officially James Gladstone, but in reality was Guy Williams). Marchand persuaded the Upper House to establish the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, on which he served as chairman.

Marchand retired from the Senate in 1998 at the age of 64, eleven years ahead of the mandatory retirement age, in order to spend more time in British Columbia. He died on June 3, 2016.[4]

Member of Parliament Robert Falcon Ouellette gave a tribute to Len Marchand in the House of Commons on June 9, 2016.[5]

Family

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Marchard is the father of Leonard Marchand Jr., who was appointed Chief Justice of British Columbia and the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of Yukon in December 2023.[6] and of Lori Marchand, who is the first Managing Director of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre (NAC). Steadfast in her approach, she has been in the role in April 2018, where her work focusses on ensuring First Nations, Métis and Inuit stories are brought to the national stage.

Legacy and honours

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Ribbon Description Notes
Order of Canada (CM)
  • Member
  • 1999
Order of British Columbia (OBC)
  • Member
  • 2014
  • [8]
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
  • 1977
  • Canadian Version of this Medal
125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal
  • 1992
Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
  • 2002
  • Canadian Version of this Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
  • 2012
  • Canadian version of this Medal

Election results

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1968 Canadian federal election: Kamloops—Cariboo
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Leonard Stephen Marchand 13,000 40.48
Progressive Conservative Edmund Davie Fulton 9,704 30.22
New Democratic Vernor Wilfred Jones 7,566 23.56
Social Credit Peter Robert Gook 1,842 5.74
Total valid votes 32,112 100.0  
This riding was created from Cariboo and Kamloops, which elected a Social Credit and a Progressive Conservative, respectively, in the last election. Davie Fulton was the incumbent from Kamloops.
1972 Canadian federal election: Kamloops—Cariboo
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Leonard S. Marchand 14,707 35.19 -5.29
Progressive Conservative Roy Hewson 13,993 33.48 +3.26
New Democratic John Farr 11,002 26.33 +2.77
Social Credit Peter R. Gook 2,089 5.00 -0.74
Total valid votes 41,791 100.0  
Liberal hold Swing -4.28
1974 Canadian federal election: Kamloops—Cariboo
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Len Marchand 20,474 41.73 +6.54
Progressive Conservative Donald W. Couch 17,328 35.32 +1.84
New Democratic Ron Anderson 9,478 19.32 -7.01
Social Credit Laurie Brigden 1,782 3.63 -1.37
Total valid votes 49,062 100.0  
Liberal hold Swing +2.35

Archives

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There is a Leonard Marchand fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[10]

References

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  1. ^ ICTMN Staff, "Len Marchand, First Status Indian Elected to Canadian Parliament, Walks On" Archived 2016-10-26 at the Wayback Machine, Indian Country Today Media Network, 7 June 2016
  2. ^ a b "Profile of Federal Candidates Kamlooos-Shuswap Riding". Eagle Valley News. 18 April 1979. p. 18.
  3. ^ a b Williams, Bryce (20 June 1968). "Kamloops: 23-Year Fulton Empire Shaky?". The Vancouver Sun. p. 6.
  4. ^ "Len Marchand Sr., former MP and senator, has died - Kamloops This Week". Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  5. ^ https://openparliament.ca/debates/2016/6/6/robert-falcon-ouellette-1/ [bare URL]
  6. ^ "Prime Minister announces appointment of new Chief Justice of British Columbia". Prime Minister of Canada. 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  7. ^ Okanagan band member receives Order of B.C.
  8. ^ "2014 Recipient: The Honourable Leonard Marchand – Kamloops : Order of BC".
  9. ^ "1999 Honorary Degree Recipients, Thompson Rivers University".
  10. ^ "Leonard Marchand fonds, Library and Archives Canada". 20 July 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
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