Will Morin

Will Morin
Leader of the First Peoples National Party of Canada
Incumbent
Assumed office 2010
Preceded by	Barbara Wardlaw
Personal details
Born	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Political party	First Peoples National Party
Residence	Sudbury, Ontario
Occupation	artist, university professor

Will Morin is a Canadian politician, currently the interim leader of the First Peoples National Party of Canada.

Morin was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and is a member of the Michipicoten First Nation. He was a medical assistant in the Canadian Forces during the 1991 Gulf War. He later obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Native Studies and a Master of Arts degree in Humanities from Laurentian University. He is now a teacher, artist and cultural consultant in Sudbury, and was seeking a PhD in human studies from Laurentian at the time of the 2008 election. Morin has served on the board of the Sudbury Arts Council, was a founder of the White Mountain Academy of the Arts, and is a strong advocate for local artists.^[1] In 2003, he proposed a community arts centre for downtown Sudbury.^[2] His own works have been displayed nationally.^[3]

He first ran as the party's candidate in Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing in the 2006 election, and subsequently ran in Sudbury in the 2008 election and the 2011 election. In both 2006 and 2008, Morin was the party's most successful candidate in number of votes received; in 2011, he was the party's only candidate.

Morin was the Eastern Regional Representative for Aboriginal Students with the Canadian Federation of Students while attending university, and became politically active as president of the Young Liberals Association at Cambrian College. He later joined the FPNP, and was nominated as the party's first candidate for public office on December 28, 2005.^[4] In 2008, he argued that he was campaigning on a platform of aboriginal values, and fighting for the inclusion of aboriginal people in the political process.^[5] During the 2008 election campaign, he was excluded from an all-candidates debate on CIGM, and all four of the major party candidates — Liberal Diane Marleau, Conservative Gerry Labelle, New Democrat Glenn Thibeault and Green Gordon Harris — chose to boycott the debate rather than participate without Morin present.^[6] Although he received few votes, he said after the election that he accomplished what he set out to achieve.^[7]

In 2006, Morin took part in a protest in support of a road blockade by the members of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Brant.^[8] He later took part in a protest against the Canadian Pacific Spirit Train during the 2008 election. The Spirit Train was intended to raise support for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver; many protesters argued that the games were taking place on stolen native land.^[9]

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Glenn Thibeault	22,684	49.9	–	–
	Conservative	Fred Slade	12,916	28.4	–	–
	Liberal	Carol Hartman	8,172	18.0	–	–
	Green	Frederick Twilley	1,349	3.0	–	–
	First Peoples National	Will Morin	228	0.5	–	–
	Independent	David Popescu	116	0.3	–	–
Total valid votes			–	100.0%	–

Source: Elections Canada

Canadian federal election, 2008: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Glenn Thibeault	15,094	35.15	+3.20	$71,329
	Liberal	Diane Marleau	12,969	30.20	−11.37	$50,177
	Conservative	Gerry Labelle	11,073	25.79	+4.11	$85,730
	Green	Gordon Harris	3,330	7.75	+5.02	$8,704
	First Peoples National	Will Morin	397	0.92		$0
	Independent	David Popescu	80	0.19	+0.08	$148
Total valid votes/Expense limit			42,943	100.00	$82,461
Total rejected ballots			192	0.45	−0.03
Turnout			43,135	58.51	−7.48
Electors on the lists			73,724
Note: italicized expenditure totals refer to data that has not yet been finalized by Elections Canada.

Canadian federal election, 2006: Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Brent St. Denis	14,652	38.18	−2.76	$52,836
	New Democratic	Carol Hughes	13,244	34.51	+2.82	$51,642
	Conservative	Ian West	8,957	23.34	+0.13	$65,745
	Green	Stan Hutchinson	1,025	2.67	−1.40	$647
	First Peoples National	Will Morin	338	0.88	–	$829
	Independent	Donald Polmateer	164	0.43	–	none listed
Total valid votes			38,380	100.00
Total rejected ballots			216	0.56
Turnout			38,596	63.99
Electors on the lists			60,311
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

References

1. Bill Bradley, "Local artist candidate for First Nations party", NorthernLife.ca, 17 September 2008, accessed 20 November 2008. See also Will Morin, "Works by local playwrights' powerful stuff", Sudbury Star, 10 September 1999, A5; Will Morin, "SAC is the voice for the local arts community", Sudbury Star, 20 May 2004, B2; Will Morin, "In every way, Sudbury arts community is open for business", Sudbury Star, 27 May 2004, B2.
2. Laura Stradiotto, "Committee to push for creation of local arts centre", Sudbury Star, 17 April 2003, A11; Laura Stradiotto, "Downtown Sudbury explores idea of artisans laneway", Sudbury Star, 1 May 2003, A5.
3. Canada Votes 2008: Sudbury, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, accessed 20 November 2008.
4. "Will Morin", NorthernOntario.org, accessed 20 November 2008.
5. Rachel Punch, "Will Morin - 'We have been excluded'", Sudbury Star, 12 October 2008, accessed 20 November 2008; Bill Bradley, "Incumbent Diane Marleau jeered in debate", NorthernLife.ca, 1 October 2008, accessed 20 November 2008.
6. "Radio debate sparks lively discussion", Northern Life, 8 October 2008.
7. Denis St. Pierre, "Morin claims moral victory; Popescu comes in last again", Sudbury Star, 15 October 2008, A3.
8. Laurel Myers, "Protesters rally for natives: They support blockade in Caledonia", Sudbury Star, 5 May 2006, A4.
9. Denis St. Pierre, "Protest greats Spirit Train", Sudbury Star, 13 October 2008, A9; Stephanie Levitz, "Winter Olympic supporters and opponents both claim success from Spirit Train", Canadian Press, 18 October 2008, 04:53 pm.

External links

• First Peoples National Party of Canada