Wabanakwut "Wab" Kinew (; born December 31, 1981),
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', December 15, 2014. is the Leader of the

Manitoba New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of Manitoba (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du 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 ...

and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

in 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 ...

. Before entering politics, he was a musician, broadcaster and university administrator, best known as a host of programming on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

and

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

."CBC series 8th Fire aims to dispel native stereotypes"
''

'', January 17, 2012.

Early life

Originally from the Onigaming First Nation in

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

, he is the son of Tobasonakwut Kinew, a former local and regional chief and a professor of Indigenous governance at the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...

, and Kathi Avery Kinew, a policy analyst."The accidental journalist: Wab Kinew emerges as contender to host Q"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', December 19, 2014. Kinew moved to suburban

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

with his parents in childhood and attended Collège Béliveau,"Kinew might be in queue to host Q: Guest spot last month piqued his interest" ''Winnipeg Free Press'', January 9, 2015. a French immersion school, and vacationed in Onigaming in the summers. He graduated from the

University of Winnipeg Collegiate The University of Winnipeg Collegiate, also commonly called The Collegiate, is a private, university-preparatory high school. Founded in 1873 within Wesley College, The Collegiate is the oldest high school in the province of Manitoba. The school ...

which Kinew said in a 2014 interview was "a private high school, one of the best in Winnipeg." Kinew earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in economics from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.

Career

Kinew began working in broadcasting after 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 ...

'' published a letter to the editor which he had written about Team Canada hockey, and a local

producer contacted him to express interest in creating and airing a documentary feature on the matter. In 2010, Kinew was a finalist for the Future Leaders of Manitoba award and lost to Canadian filmmaker and director Adam Smoluk. Other notable finalists of the award include Olympic champion

Jennifer Jones Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17, 2009), also known as Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress and mental health advocate. Over the course of her career that spanned over five decades, she was nominated ...

, radio personality David 'Ace' Burpee, friend of

Bell Let's Talk Bell Lets Talk () is a campaign created by the Canadian telecommunications company, Bell Canada, in an effort to raise awareness and combat stigma surrounding mental illness in Canada. It is the largest corporate commitment to mental health in ...

Karuna (Andi) Sharma, artist Kal Barteski, and Canadian restaurateur and philanthropist Sachit Mehra. Kinew has been a reporter and host for the CBC's radio and television operations,"Aboriginal rapper, CBC host has plenty to say"
''

, January 24, 2009. including the weekly arts magazine show ''The 204'' in

and the national documentary series ''

8th Fire ''8th Fire: Aboriginal Peoples, Canada & the Way Forward'' is a Canadian broadcast documentary series, which aired in 2012. Featuring television, radio and web broadcasting components, the series focused on the changing nature of Canada's relations ...

'' in 2012. He is also a host of the documentary program ''

Fault Lines In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

'' on

Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazeera' ...

. In 2014, he appeared as a panelist on

's ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'', defending

Joseph Boyden Joseph Boyden (born October 31, 1966) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer of Irish and Scottish descent. He also claims Indigenous descent, but this is widely disputed. Joseph Boyden is best known for writing about First Nations culture ...

's novel '' The Orenda''. The novel won the competition. Kinew was a guest host of '' Q'' for two weeks in December 2014, and moderated the 2015 edition of ''Canada Reads''.

Music

After being a member of the hip-hop groups Slangblossom and the Dead Indians in the mid 2000s, Kinew released his debut individual CD as a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

, ''Live by the Drum'', in 2009. The CD won an Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award for Best Rap/Hip-Hop CD."UWinnipeg names first Director of Indigenous Inclusion"

, October 4, 2012. His second CD, ''Mide-Sun'', followed in 2010.

Albums

University administration

In 2011, the University of Winnipeg named Kinew its first director of Indigenous inclusion. In 2014, Kinew was appointed acting associate vice-president of Indigenous Affairs after Jennifer Rattray resigned the position. He is also an honorary witness for the

Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC; french: Commission de vérité et réconciliation du Canada []) was a truth and reconciliation commission active in Canada from 2008 to 2015, organized by the parties of the Indian Residen ...

. On October 25, 2014, Kinew received an honorary doctorate degree from

Cape Breton University , "Diligence Will Prevail" , mottoeng = Perseverance Will Triumph , established = 1951 as Xavier Junior College 1968 as NSEIT 1974 as College Of Cape Breton 1982 as University College of Cape Breton 2005 as Cape Breton ...

Writing

Kinew has written two books, a personal memoir and a children's book, which were published by Penguin Canada. The memoir, '' The Reason You Walk'', chronicles the year 2012, during which Kinew strove to reconnect with the Indigenous man who raised him. The reviewer for ''

'' commented: "the undeniable significance of ''The Reason You Walks message, and the fact that the book holds so much for both aboriginal and non-aboriginal readers, makes it a must-read. This is not just a memoir, it's a meditation on the purpose of living." Kinew was honoured with the 2016 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for non-fiction, for this book, which comes with a $10,000 cash award. In 2018, Kinew's children's book '' Go Show the World: A Celebration of Indigenous Heroes'' about notable figures in First Nations history, including

John Herrington John Bennett Herrington (born September 14, 1958, in Chickasaw Nation) is a retired United States Naval Aviator, engineer and former NASA astronaut. In 2002, Herrington became the first enrolled member of a Native American tribe to fly in spac ...

Sacagawea Sacagawea ( or ; also spelled Sakakawea or Sacajawea; May – December 20, 1812 or April 9, 1884)Sacagawea
...

Carey Price Carey Price (born August 16, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is considered to be one of the best goaltenders in the world by many colleagues, fans, ''The ...

, and

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...

. He was inspired to write the stories of such people by

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's ''Of Thee I Sing'', and K’naan’s song ''Take a Minute''. In 2021, Kinew wrote a YA fantasy novel " Walking in Two Worlds" published by Penguin Teen; an Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual.

Politics

He considered running for the leadership 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 ...

in its 2014

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

, but decided not to mount a campaign as he was newly married in August and felt it was not the right time to be away from home for an extended period. In 2016, he was announced as a

candidate for Fort Rouge in the 2016 provincial election. During the final days of the campaign, misogynistic and anti-gay tweets and other social media comments were discovered by media on Kinew's Twitter feed. This created a scandal with calls for 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 ...

to drop Kinew from the ballots. Kinew apologized for his past comments. On April 19, 2016, Kinew defeated Manitoba Liberal leader

Rana Bokhari Rana Bokhari (born October 23, 1977) was the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party from 2013 until 2016 in Manitoba, Canada. Background Bokhari was born on a farm near Anola, Manitoba. As a student she attended the University of Manitoba where she ...

in the riding of Fort Rouge. He was subsequently named the NDP's spokesperson for reconciliation and critic for education, advanced learning, and training as well as housing and community development. Kinew ran for leadership of the Manitoba NDP in 2017 and was elected leader at the convention of September 16, defeating the only other candidate, former cabinet minister Steve Ashton, by a margin of three to one. Kinew led the Manitoba NDP into the 2019 provincial election; the party gained 6 seats but the PCs were re-elected to a majority.

Personal life

Kinew recounts that he "experienced racially motivated assaults by adults" during his time growing up in suburban Winnipeg. In 2003, Kinew was convicted of impaired driving. Kinew has since quit drinking and in 2014 applied for a pardon from the Canadian government, which was granted by the

Parole Board of Canada The Parole Board of Canada (french: Commission des libérations conditionnelles du Canada; formerly known as the National Parole Board) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons i ...

in 2016. The Parole Board ruling removed from the

Canadian Police Information Centre The Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC; french: Centre d'information de la police canadienne, ''CIPC'') is the central police database where Canada's law enforcement agencies can access information on a number of matters. It is Canada's only ...

database references to his convictions on assaulting a taxi driver, a Driving Under the Influence conviction for refusing a breathalyzer sample, and two breaches of court orders. In the spring of 2003, Kinew was charged with two counts of

domestic assault Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

related to allegations that he threw his then-girlfriend across a room during an argument. The charges were subsequently stayed. Kinew denies the allegations.Woman at centre of Wab Kinew domestic assault allegations says she was thrown http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/wab-kinew-domestic-assault-allegations-1.4290885 Kinew is married to Lisa, a family physician who practises medicine at an inner-city clinic, and has two sons from a previous relationship.

Electoral record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinew, Wab 1981 births Living people 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian rappers 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century memoirists Al Jazeera people Canadian children's writers Canadian male rappers Canadian memoirists Canadian television hosts Canadian television journalists CBC Radio hosts CBC Television people First Nations journalists First Nations musicians First Nations politicians Manitoba CCF/NDP leaders Musicians from Winnipeg New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs People from Kenora Politicians from Winnipeg Saulteaux people University of Winnipeg faculty Writers from Winnipeg 21st-century Canadian male musicians Ojibwe people