History

The FPP was created following a 1993 resolution by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, endorsing a political party to focus on aboriginal issues. The party was officially founded in November 1994, and fielded three candidates in the 1995 provincial election

Manitoba general election, 1995

The Manitoba general election of April 25,1995 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which won 31 seats out of 57...

. The FPP was not registered with Elections Manitoba

Elections Manitoba

Elections Manitoba is the non-partisan agency of the Government of Manitoba, responsible for the conduct of provincial elections....

, and its candidates appeared on the ballot as independents.

The FPP argued that all aboriginal peoples in Canada possess an inherent right to self-government, and claimed the established political parties were not giving sufficient attention to aboriginal concerns. The party also highlighted issues of sustainable development and the environment. Jerry Fontaine

Jerry Fontaine

Jerry Fontaine is an Anishinaabe politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation from 1989 to 1998, led the First Peoples Party in the 1995 provincial election, and was an unsuccessful candidate to lead the Manitoba Liberal Party in 1998...

 was recognized as the party's leader, although it is not clear if he held an official title within the party. A former Liberal Party

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 candidate, Fontaine emphasized that the FPP was open to all Manitobans and not only those of aboriginal background.

Some members of Manitoba's aboriginal community opposed the FPP's creation. George Hickes

George Hickes (politician)

George Hickes, MLA is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He has served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba since 1990, and has been the Speaker of the Assembly since 1999...

, a New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party of Manitoba

The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...

 (NDP) legislator of Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 background, argued that the principle of an aboriginal party is inappropriate for Canada's constituency-based electoral system. Elected politicians, he argued, are required to represent diverse communities. Referring to his own ethnically diverse Point Douglas constituency, Hickes said, "You have Ukrainians, Filipinos, Chinese. What happens to them... if you're running to represent only one group of people?"

The FPP was largely unsuccessful as a political party. Fontaine ran a credible campaign in the vast northern constituency of Rupertsland, but nonetheless finished in fourth place with 541 votes. Una Truscott received 262 votes in the Winnipeg constituency of Broadway, while Lyle Morrisseau received 105 votes in neighbouring Point Douglas. The NDP won all three constituencies.

In the middle of the campaign, two candidates from a separate party called Independent Native Voice

Independent Native Voice

Independent Native Voice, also known as Native Voice, was a short-lived political party in Manitoba, Canada. It was created in 1995 to address aboriginal issues, and ran three candidates in the 1995 provincial election. Native Voice was not registered with Elections Manitoba, and its candidates...

 also joined the FPP: Nelson Contois and his daughter Carey Contois. Three years later, allegations arose that the Contois candidacies were sponsored by Progressive Conservative Party

Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 organizers to encourage vote-splitting with the NDP. The FPP was not implicated in this scandal.

The First Peoples Party dissolved after the 1995 election. Fontaine subsequently rejoined the Liberals, and ran for the leadership of that party

Manitoba Liberal Party leadership elections

The Manitoba Liberal Party, a political party in the Canadian province of Manitoba, has chosen most of its leaders by delegated leadership conventions...

 in 1998. He was defeated by Jon Gerrard

Jon Gerrard

Jon Gerrard, PC, MLA is a politician and medical doctor in Manitoba, Canada. He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 1997, and was a secretary of state in the government of Jean Chrétien...

.

In 2000, a separate First Peoples Party was founded in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 under the leadership of Don Moss. This was later renamed as the All Nations Party of British Columbia

All Nations Party of British Columbia

The All Nations Party was a minor political party in British Columbia, Canada. Its primary base of support was the First Nations aboriginal peoples of Canada....

. A federal First Peoples National Party of Canada

First Peoples National Party of Canada

The First Peoples National Party of Canada is a registered federal political party in Canada. It intends to advance the issues of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada by nominating candidates for election in electoral districts with large Aboriginal populations.The FPNPC held its first organizational...

 was established in 2005, based in part on the FPP.

Election results

Election	# of candidates nominated	# of seats won	# of total votes	% of popular vote	% in seats contested
1995 Manitoba general election, 1995 The Manitoba general election of April 25,1995 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which won 31 seats out of 57...	3	0	908		5.72

If the Contois candidacies are included, the figures become:

Election	# of candidates nominated	# of seats won	# of total votes	% of popular vote	% in seats contested
1995 Manitoba general election, 1995 The Manitoba general election of April 25,1995 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which won 31 seats out of 57...	5	0	1,137		3.32

Una Truscott (Broadway)

Truscott was the first candidate nominated for the FPP. She was a 28-year old university student at the time of the election, and her campaign focused on sustainable development and the environment. She received 262 votes (4.01%), finishing fourth in a field of four candidates. The winner was Conrad Santos

Conrad Santos

Conrad Santos is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988, and again from 1990 to 2007....

 of the New Democratic Party.

Truscott later worked as the Aboriginal Public Administration Program Intern for the Office of the Children's Advocate of Manitoba, and became the Aboriginal Cultural and Spiritual Liaison at the St. Amant Centre.

Lyle Morrisseau (Point Douglas)

Morrisseau is a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation, and also holds the name Kah Kimi Watha Pimi Whata (Day Walker). He served on the student council of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in the early 1990s. In January 1994, he was a spokesman for the 1992 Committee Supporting 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance at an anti-North American Free Trade Agreement

North American Free Trade Agreement

The North American Free Trade Agreement or NAFTA is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement...

 (NAFTA) rally in Winnipeg. Morrisseau endorsed the actions of indigenous rebels in the Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 state of Chiapas

Chiapas

Chiapas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 118 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutierrez. Other important cites in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las...

, and drew parallels between the conditions of aboriginal people in Mexico, Canada and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

He received 105 votes (2.14%) in the 1995 election, finishing fourth against New Democratic Party candidate George Hickes. Soon after the election, Morrisseau participated in a protest by the Nuxalk

Nuxalk

Nuxálk are an indigenous people native to Bella Coola, British Columbia in Canada. The term can refer to:* Nuxálk language, a moribund Salishan language.* Nuxalk Nation, the name of the Nuxálk group in the First Nations....

 nation in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 against local logging activities as a representative of the First Nations Environmental Network.

Morrisseau remained active with environmental issues after 1995. In 1997, he spoke out against the burial of nuclear waste on aboriginal land.

In 2000, Morrisseau and Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 (RCMP) officer Ron MacRae used CPR to revive a trucker whom witnessed initially believed was dead at the scene of an accident. The newspaper report of this incident listed Morrisseau as living in Fort Alexander

Fort Alexander, Manitoba

Fort Alexander is a community in Manitoba, Canada, located on the Sagkeeng First Nation, on the south bank of the Winnipeg River. The Sagkeeng area, or the mouth of the Winnipeg River, was originally settled with native camps used for fishing, hunting, and trade...

, Manitoba.

Jerry Fontaine (Rupertsland)

Fontaine received 541 votes (12.22%), finishing fourth against NDP candidate Eric Robinson.

Footnotes