Oscar Lathlin (May 20, 1947 – November 1, 2008) was a politician in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

government of

Gary Doer Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...

Biography

Life and career

Lathlin was born and raised at the

Opaskwayak Cree Nation The Opaskwayak Cree Nation (; OCN, Cree: ᐅᐸᐢᑿᔭᐠ , ''opâskwêyâhk'', meaning: at the wooded narrows) is a First Nations band government in Manitoba, Canada. Most of the on-reserve population lives near The Pas on the OCN 21E reserve ...

The Pas The Pas ( ; french: Le Pas) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provinc ...

, in northern Manitoba. He attended high school at Frontier Collegiate in

Cranberry Portage Cranberry Portage is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district located in the Rural Municipality of Kelsey, Manitoba. It was an important part of the pre-European contact trade routes of the Cree and Assiniboine peoples. L ...

, graduating in 1969, and also attended

Brandon University Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrollment of 3375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, as Brandon Co ...

. He subsequently returned to his community, and worked as a band manager of The Pas Band. He was named executive director of the

Swampy Cree Tribal Council Swampy means "of or resembling a swamp". Swampy may also refer to: * Swampy Cree, native Americans (and their language) * Swampy, a character in the video game ''Where's My Water?'' People * Swampy (environmentalist), Daniel Hooper (born 1973), ...

in 1979, and was elected chief of The Pas Band in 1985. He also worked as an advisor to the Native Teacher Education Program, served on various committees of the

Assembly of First Nations The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is an assembly of Canadian First Nations (Indian bands) represented by their chiefs. Established in 1982 and modelled on the United Nations General Assembly, it emerged from the National Indian Brotherhood, wh ...

and was a senior advisor for the federal government of

on a variety of subjects. He was married twice: first to Matilda Daniels and then to Leona Jebb. In the 1990 provincial election, Lathlin was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

for the northern riding of

, narrowly defeating Progressive Conservative Alfred McDonald. He was re-elected over McDonald by a greater margin in the 1995 election. The NDP came in second in both of these campaigns, and Lathlin served as critic for Native Affairs, Constitutional Development and Community Economic Development during his time as an opposition MLA. He also supported

Lorne Nystrom Lorne Edmund Nystrom, (born April 26, 1946) is a Canadian politician and was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2004. He is a member of the New Democratic Party. Nystrom has been a prominent figu ...

's bid to become the leader of the federal

in 1995. The NDP won the general election of 1999, although Lathlin was only re-elected by a narrow margin over PC candidate

Ron Evans Ronald Barry Evans AM (7 July 1939 – 9 March 2007) was an Australian rules footballer, Chairman of the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1998 to 2007, as well as President of the Essendon Football Club from 1988 to 1992. Education E ...

, a local aboriginal leader. He was subsequently named as Minister of Conservation in

's first cabinet. On September 25, 2002, he was transferred to the Ministry of Aboriginal and Northern Affairs, also holding responsibility for the Communities Economic Development Fund. In 2003, he supported

Bill Blaikie William Alexander Blaikie (June 19, 1951 – September 24, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2008, representing Elmwood—Transcona and its antecedent ridings i ...

's campaign to become the leader of the federal NDP. Lathlin was easily re-elected in the provincial elections of

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Death

On November 2, 2008, the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' reported that Lathlin had died early that morning. It was later revealed that Lathlin had died on the evening of November 1 at his cabin near

. He was succeeded by Frank Whitehead in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on March 24, 2009. Following Whitehead's resignation from the legislature in 2014, Lathlin's daughter

Amanda Lathlin Amanda Lathlin (born July 17, 1976) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in a by-election on April 22, 2015.1947 births 2008 deaths Cree people First Nations politicians Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs People from The Pas 21st-century Canadian politicians