Malcolm Norris

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Malcolm Norris (1900-1967) was an influential Canadian Metis leader of the twentieth century and celebrated Aboriginal activist. A Marxist, Socialist, and Metis nationalist he served for a time with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and as an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. During his on the job travels he developed his political views in response to the disorganization and poverty he saw in Metis and First Nations communities throughout northern Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Norris, alongside his friend James P. Brady, was one of the founding members of the Métis Association of Alberta. In the Second World War he served in the Royal Canadian Airforce returning to settle in northern Saskatchewan. Malcolm worked with and for the new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government in Saskatchewan for many years. Despite his hopes for the social democratic government in Saskatchewan, Norris sought self-government and fiscal self-sufficiency for his people organizing the Métis Association of Saskatchewan. He was sacked from his job in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan when the Saskatchewan Liberal Party returned to power in 1964. Following this he served as President of the Metis Association of Saskatchewan and advised First Nations Chiefs and bands on political organization.

In 1967 he moved back to Alberta and passed away from a stroke.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • [1] Aboriginal Faces of Saskatchewan Biography of Malcolm Norris
  • [2] Encyclopaedia of Saskatchewan entry on Malcolm Norris
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