After 185 years of municipal elections, Montreal voters finally put an Indigenous person on city council

Marie-Josée Parent only moved to Montreal as an adult, but quickly fell in love with the city. A few years later, she made history as the first Indigenous person elected as a city councilor since Montreal was incorporated as a city in 1832.

When Montrealers went to the polls on November 5, they elected 65 members of city council as well as a new mayor – Valérie Plante of Projet Montréal, the city’s first woman in the top job.

Parent told the Nation that she felt both honoured and a deep sense of responsibility.
“It’s special to feel people putting their trust in you, it comes with a feeling of humility and a desire to treat citizens in a way they’re hoping and expecting to be treated,” she said.

Originally born and raised in Ottawa, Parent has Mi’kmaq and Acadian ancestry through her mother.
At one point she moved to Paris while her mother worked on her PhD, but her mom sent her back to Canada, worrying that she was “becoming too French.”

Parent moved to Montreal, and fell in love with the city and community while studying philosophy and art history at the Université de Montréal. She tried living in New York City for a few years, but eventually returned.

Parent is involved with the urban Indigenous community. For the past three years, she served as the director of DestiNATIONS, a non-profit organization that promotes Aboriginal cultural tourism.

She has also worked for the City of Montreal, as well with the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador.
Recently defeated Mayor Denis Coderre had encouraged Parent to run for his political party to add an Indigenous voice to municipal politics. She accepted and won a close decision, defeating her opponent by less than 700 votes in the Montreal district of Verdun.
Does Parent feel she has an obligation to represent all Indigenous peoples in Montreal?

“Yes and no – there’s 26,000 to 46,000 Indigenous people here. I can’t represent or speak for everyone, but I can continue to participate and be close to my community and bring those voices to the forefront of the conversation,” she replied.

That’s why for her, she says, it was important to run in Verdun, where she lives, and where there’s an active Indigenous community.
Still, Parent acknowledges there’s a lot of important work to be done in the city on Indigenous issues. Before even being elected to city council, she spent three years working with the city on their reconciliation strategy, which was inspired in many ways by Vancouver.
She feels it’s important to recognize that the city itself is on the traditional unceded territory of the Mohawk Nation, and that the city should be working with the Mohawks, as well as the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador, the Inuit and other Indigenous groups.

Parent hopes that the city can begin working this year on co-governance agreements to begin implementing solutions to issues that face urban Indigenous residents.

Parent also urged other Indigenous people to get involved in politics at every level.

“Do it! Get involved,” she implored. “Every government is a place where we can have a voice. The more we participate, the more power we have to bring about change. The important thing is to stay connected to the land and community and values.”