Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

(NDP), Angus served as the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—James Bay from 2004 to 2025. Until his retirement from politics, he was the NDP critic for Ethics, FedNor, Indigenous Youth and Income Inequality and Affordability. He was also deputy critic for Labour. Angus was a candidate for leadership of the federal NDP in the 2017 New Democratic Party leadership election, where he received 19.4% of the vote. He is the author of '' Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower.''

Early life, music, writing, and activism

Angus was born in

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

,Parliamentarian Information Page. August 22, 2007
/ref> and moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 1973, where in 1980 he co-founded the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band L'Étranger with childhood friend Andrew Cash. Angus performed bass and co-wrote many of the group's songs, which were influenced by the Clash and the group's Catholic

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

roots."Andrew Cash: From punk to politics"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', May 7, 2011. L'Étranger is best known for their anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

single "One People", played frequently on the then-new

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

. at

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's Canadian Pop Encyclopedia. Angus later co-founded the alternative folk group Grievous Angels.About Charlie Angus Member for Timmins James Bay. Biography page from personal website. After his election to Parliament, Angus continued to perform with the group on occasion and released a new album in 2021. Angus was a community activist in Toronto in the 1980s where, along with his wife Brit Griffin, he established a Catholic Worker house, a homeless shelter for men, especially those who were minority refugees and former prisoners. He moved to

Cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

, Ontario, with his young family in 1990. In 1995, Brit and Charlie launched '' HighGrader'', a magazine devoted to Northern Ontario life and culture. In 1999, he received an award from the

Northern Lights Festival Boréal Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual summer music festival in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario. It is one of Canada's oldest continuous music festivals, having been staged every year since 1972 until the COVID-19 pandemic.

in Sudbury for his outstanding contributions to Northern Ontario culture. He is the author of eight published books, including an admiring biography of Les Costello, the celebrated

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

player who left professional hockey to become a Catholic priest in Timmins.Charlie Angus. ''Les Costello: Canada's Flying Father''. 2005. Novalis. Angus's fifth book, ''Cage Call'', a photo documentary with photographer Louie Palu, was released in 2007. From 2000 to 2004, Angus served as a trustee on the Northeastern Catholic District School Board.

Federal politics

Angus entered federal politics in the 2004 election as the successful

candidate in the Ontario riding of Timmins—James Bay, winning election to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

by fewer than 600 votes. He was re-elected in the 2006 federal election with an outright majority, over six thousand votes ahead of Liberal challenger Robert Riopelle. Angus was the NDP

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

for Canadian heritage from 2004 to 2007, and was additionally critic for

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

from 2004 to 2006. In 2005, Angus's parish priest, Father John Lemire, confronted him and threatened to deny him

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

if he voted with the government and his party to legalize

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. Angus stood his ground and was denied communion. Angus's treatment provoked widespread public reaction both from those who supported the church's stance and those who supported Angus. Some Catholic MPs were in the latter group, arguing that the Church was selective in its exclusion of practising Catholic MPs from its activities. Angus and fellow NDP MP Joe Comartin were the only two Catholic MPs who supported same-sex marriage but were excluded. In 2007, he became the NDP critic for

Public Works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

and Treasury Board, as well as the NDP spokesman for digital issues such as

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

and internet neutrality. In 2006, after he had served just two years as a Member of Parliament, the ''

'' selected Angus as one of the ten most effective opposition MPs. He also won "Best Constituent Representative" at the 2007 ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'' Parliamentarian of the Year Awards. Angus was re-elected in the federal elections of both

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Angus also served as the party's spokesperson on privacy, ethics, and government accountability. Angus voted against a bill to abolish the Canadian Firearms Registry in September 2010. Although the registry is unpopular with many of his constituents, Angus voted against its abolition based on supportive studies provided by police. He subsequently introduced a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

to reform the registry. He was named to ''

'' magazine's Power List in 2012 as one of the 25 most influential Canadians. The same year, ''Zoomer Magazine'' chose him as the third most influential Canadian over the age of 45; he was one of only two MPs on the list, alongside NDP leader Tom Mulcair. In 2011, CTV News Channel's '' Power Play'' placed him among the top three MPs of the year, along with the then

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

, and NDP leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

, who had died that August. In 2012, Angus backed Paul Dewar to become leader of the NDP. Angus has been an advocate for the rights of First Nations children and was the co-founder of the Shannen's Dream campaign, named in honour of the late Cree youth leader Shannen Koostachin, who Angus fought alongside to build a new elementary school for her community. In early 2012, Angus's parliamentary motion "Shannen's Dream," calling for an end to the systemic underfunding of First Nations education, passed unanimously through the House of Commons. After the 2015 federal election, he was appointed NDP critic for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

and elected Caucus Chair in January 2016. He was also a member of the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee. He resigned from both roles on November 23, 2016, in to prepare for the 2017 New Democratic Party leadership race. On February 20, 2017, Angus officially registered to run in the NDP leadership race to succeed Tom Mulcair. He placed second with 19.4% of the vote, losing to then Ontario provincial politician Jagmeet Singh. MPs Niki Ashton and Guy Caron respectively came in third and fourth. Angus was re-elected in the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and 2021 federal elections. On April 4, 2024, Angus announced that he would not be running for re-election in the

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

Works

* ''We Lived a Life and Then Some'' with Brit Griffin, Sally Lawrence, and Rob Moir.

Between the Lines Books Between the Lines Books (BTL) is an independent Toronto-based publisher of non-fiction, most of which offers a critical perspective on culture, economics, and society. Since its inception in 1977, BTL has published approximately 250 titles of whi ...

, 1996. . * ''Industrial Cathedrals of the North'', with Louie Palu and Marguerite Andersen. Between the Lines, 1999. . * ''Mirrors of Stone: Fragments from the Porcupine Frontier'', with Louie Palu. Between the Lines, 2001. . * ''Les Costello: Canada's Flying Father''. Novalis, 2005. . * ''Cage Call'', with Louie Palu. Photolucida, 2007. . * ''Unlikely Radicals''. Between the Lines, 2013. . * ''Children of the Broken Treaty: Canada's Lost Promise and One Girl's Dream''. University of Regina Press, 2015. . * '' Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower, House of Anansi Press,'' 2022,

Honours and awards

Angus was selected as "Best Mentor" in ''

'' magazine's 12th annual Parliamentarians of the Year award and was also the 2007 winner for "Best represents constituents". He was also a finalist for "Most knowledgeable".

Electoral record

References

External links

*
How'd They Vote?: Charlie Angus's voting history and quotes
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Angus, Charlie 1962 births 20th-century Canadian historians 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian country rock musicians Canadian environmentalists Canadian feminists Canadian folk rock musicians Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian magazine editors Canadian Roman Catholic writers Catholic Workers Copyright activists Ecofeminists Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Musicians from Timmins New Democratic Party MPs Ontario school board trustees People from Cobalt, Ontario Politicians from Toronto Singers from Toronto Writers from Timmins Writers from Toronto L'Étranger (band) members 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Politicians from Timmins