Blake Desjarlais

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Blake Desjarlais
File:Blake Desjarlais at convention 2023.jpg
Desjarlais in 2023
Member of Parliament
for Edmonton Griesbach
In office
September 20, 2021 – April 28, 2025
Preceded byKerry Diotte
Succeeded byKerry Diotte
Personal details
Born (1993-12-29) December 29, 1993 (age 32)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
PartyNew Democratic
Education

Blake Desjarlais (born December 29, 1993) is a Canadian politician who represented Edmonton Griesbach in the House of Commons from 2021-2025. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Desjarlais is of Cree and Métis descent, making him Alberta's only Indigenous member of Parliament (MP). He is also the first openly two-spirit individual to serve as an MP.

Early life and education

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Desjarlais was born on December 29, 1993[1][2] in Edmonton and grew up in the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in central Alberta. He is of Cree and Métis descent. His biological mother Brenda was a victim of the Sixties Scoop and spent her childhood in foster care, before working as a sex worker to support herself.[3] When Brenda became pregnant with Blake, she sought help from her sister Grace Desjarlais, who took Blake and raised him herself.[4] On his adoption by his aunt, Desjarlais stated that "she saved [his] life."[3] Desjarlais's father was a carpenter who had died when Desjarlais was twelve.[1]

Desjarlais attended secondary school in the "predominantly white town" of Elk Point, Alberta.[5] He went on to study political science and Indigenous studies at MacEwan University; however, he received racially motivated death threats and transferred to the University of Victoria.[3][1] As a university student, Desjarlais was involved in student politics, and served as firekeeper of the Native Student Union (NSU).[6] When Desjarlais completed his studies, he was appointed the national director of the Métis Settlements General Council in 2016.[3]

Political career

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2021 campaign

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Desjarlais had previously mulled running for an elected Indigenous leadership role. He was skeptical of running in partisan politics, seeing the various parties as only having interest in him to fulfill mandates regarding Indigenous and queer representation.[3] Upon meeting representatives from the NDP, his impression was different, stating that "[The NDP] recognized me as a whole person with expertise in a vast variety of sectors."[3]

During the 2021 election campaign, Desjarlais received support from several members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) – Janis Irwin, Chris Nielsen, former premier Rachel Notley and former education minister David Eggen.[7] According to Desjarlais, during an evening canvassing shift, they had a racist interaction with five men who mistook him for being Chinese and blamed him for the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]

Member of Parliament

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On election day, Desjarlais defeated Kerry Diotte, a two-term Conservative MP.[9] The riding was previously considered a Conservative stronghold.[4] MLA Janis Irwin likened Desjarlais's win to a disinterest in the Liberal Party and anger directed towards the Conservative Party due to their actions federally – such as MP Diotte's vote against the conversion therapy ban – and their association with the unpopular United Conservative Party (UCP) government provincially. As well, growing support of the People's Party voters siphoned off support from the Conservatives.[3]

Desjarlais is the first openly two-spirit individual to have been elected to Parliament.[10][11]

After being elected, Desjarlais was selected to be the New Democratic Party's deputy caucus chair for the 44th Parliament.[3][12]

Desjarlais was defeated in the 2025 federal election by Kerry Diotte.

Electoral history

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2025 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Griesbach
** Preliminary results — Not yet official **
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Kerry Diotte 22,256 45.37 +9.06
New Democratic Blake Desjarlais 16,719 34.08 –6.28
Liberal Patrick Lennox 8,936 18.22 +3.05
People's Thomas Matty 440 0.90 –5.04
Green Michael Hunter 302 0.62 –0.51
Communist Alex Boykowich 144 0.29 –0.01
Independent Crystal Vargas 118 0.24 N/A
Canadian Future Brent Tyson 74 0.15 N/A
Marxist–Leninist Mary Joyce 64 0.13 –0.07
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected ballots
Turnout 49,053 56.91
Eligible voters 86,199
Conservative notional gain from New Democratic Swing +7.67
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]
2021 Canadian federal election: Edmonton Griesbach
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Blake Desjarlais 17,457 40.5 +15.4 $83,759.98
Conservative Kerry Diotte 15,957 37.1 -14.3 $76,024.95
Liberal Habiba Mohamud 5,979 13.9 +3.4 $61,293.65
People's Thomas Matty 2,617 6.1 +3.8 $6,908.51
Green Heather Lau 538 1.2 -1.3 $0.00
Libertarian Morgan Watson 268 0.6 - none listed
Communist Alex Boykowich 140 0.3 -0.1 $0.00
Marxist–Leninist Mary Joyce 103 0.2 -0.0 $0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 43,059 99.9 – $111,212.30
Total rejected ballots 495
Turnout 43,554 53.2%
Eligible voters 81,057
New Democratic gain from Conservative Swing -3.6
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  4. ^ a b Michelle Bellefontaine, "Meet Blake Desjarlais, the Métis NDP candidate who just ended a Conservative stronghold in Edmonton Griesbach". CBC News, September 24, 2021.
  5. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  9. ^ Janet French, "Conservative support sags as Albertans add Liberal, NDP MPs". CBC News Edmonton, September 21, 2021.
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