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Wabanakwut " Wab" Kinew (born December 31, 1981) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 25th premier of Manitoba since October 18, 2023 and the leader of the Manitoba New Democratic Party (NDP) since September 16, 2017. Kinew represents Fort Rouge in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and was the leader of the Opposition from 2017 until the NDP's victory in the 2023 provincial election.
Before entering politics, Kinew was an author, musician, broadcaster and university administrator, best known as a host of programming on CBC Radio and CBC Television. Kinew is Canada's first provincial premier of First Nations descent, and Manitoba's first Indigenous premier since Métis Premier John Norquay in 1887.
Kinew moved to suburban Winnipeg 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, a private high school which Kinew said in a 2014 interview was "one of the best in Winnipeg." "Wab Kinew discusses education at Thunder Bay orientation" . Wawatay News, September 18, 2014. Kinew went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Manitoba, later pursuing a master’s degree in Indigenous governance.
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, radio personality David 'Ace' Burpee, friend of Bell Let's Talk 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" . Winnipeg Free Press, January 24, 2009. including the weekly arts magazine show The 204 in Winnipeg and the national documentary series 8th Fire in 2012. He is also a host of the documentary program Fault Lines on Al Jazeera America. "Canadian journalists Ali Velshi, Wab Kinew join Al Jazeera America" . The Canadian Journalism Project'', April 9, 2013.
In 2014, he appeared as a panelist on CBC Radio's Canada Reads, defending Joseph Boyden's novel The Orenda. "Joseph Boyden's novel The Orenda wins CBC's Canada Reads contest" . Edmonton Journal, March 6, 2014. The novel won the competition.
Kinew was a guest host of Q for two weeks in December 2014, "CBC ponders new name for ‘Q’ in light of Jian Ghomeshi scandal" . CityNews, November 12, 2014. and moderated the 2015 edition of Canada Reads. "Canada Reads 2015: One book to break barriers" . CBC Books, November 19, 2014.
| >2009 | '''''Live By the Drum'''''
| Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Award |
| >2010 | '''''[[Mide-Sun]]'''''
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On October 25, 2014, Kinew received an honorary doctorate degree from Cape Breton University.David Akin, . canoe.ca, October 29, 2014.
The Reason You Walk is a memoir that chronicles the year 2012, during which Kinew strove to reconnect with the Indigenous man who raised him. In the book, Kinew details his point of view on several controversial matters related to his past, including convictions resulting from alcoholism, his assault of a taxicab driver, and misogynistic and homophobic lyrics from his music career." What we know so far about Wab Kinew's convictions, stayed charges ." CBC News. 2017 September 24. Retrieved 2023-08-27. A reviewer for The Globe and Mail commented: "the undeniable significance of The Reason You Walk's 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 published a children's book, , about notable figures in First Nations history, including John Herrington, Sacagawea, Carey Price, and Crazy Horse. He was inspired to write the stories of such people by Barack Obama's Of Thee I Sing, and K’naan’s song Take a Minute. The book went on to make the 2018 Governor General’s Literary Award for young people’s literature – illustrated shortlist.
In 2021, Kinew released Walking in Two Worlds, a young adult fantasy novel published by Penguin Teen, in which an Indigenous teen girl is caught between the real world and a virtual video-game universe. The book won Kinew an Aurora Awards for science fiction and fantasy in 2022.
In 2016, he was announced as a Manitoba New Democratic Party candidate for Fort Rouge for the 2016 provincial election. During the final days of the campaign, Misogyny and Homophobia 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 to drop Kinew from the ballot. Following an apology for his past comments, at the election on April 19, 2016, Kinew defeated Manitoba Liberal Party leader Rana Bokhari in the riding of Fort Rouge. He was subsequently named the NDP's spokesperson for reconciliation and opposition critic for Education, Advanced Learning, and Training, as well as for Housing and Community Development.
Kinew was a candidate in the 2017 Manitoba NDP leadership election; at the September 16 convention, he defeated the only other candidate, former cabinet minister Steve Ashton, by a margin of 728 votes to 253. This made Kinew the first elected First Nations leader of a major party in Manitoba's history.
In 2017, Kinew introduced Bill 223 to mark September 30 as Orange Shirt Day, a day meant to honour residential school survivors, while in 2019, he introduced Bill 228, the Sikh Heritage Month Act. Later in 2019 Kinew also put forward a private member's bill that would bestow title of honorary first premier to Métis leader Louis Riel and require Riel's contributions be part of the school curriculum.
Kinew led the Manitoba NDP into the 2019 provincial election; the party gained six seats but the Progressive Conservative Party were re-elected to a majority.
Kinew continued as leader after the 2019 election, following which the NDP gained a lead over the governing PCs in polling. Ahead of the 2023 provincial election, the race tightened during the campaign period. The NDP campaign focused on healthcare reform. The NDP won the election, making Kinew the first First Nations person, and second Indigenous person overall, to be elected a provincial premier in Canada.
Political career
Kinew considered running for the leadership of the Assembly of First Nations in its 2014 leadership election, but decided not to mount a campaign as he was newly married in August and felt that it was not the right time to be away from home for an extended period.
Premier of Manitoba
Kinew was sworn in as Premier of Manitoba on October 18, 2023.
In December 2024, Kinew pledged to combat homelessness by starting to move homeless people from homeless encampments into proper housing in 2025.
Some time after moving out of his parents' home at the age of 19, Kinew began experiencing problems with alcohol.
On February 24, 2003, Kinew was arrested in Winnipeg, after he was spotted erratically driving his father's 2000 Dodge Dakota by Henderson Highway late in the evening. A witness testified in court that they followed Kinew for several kilometres and saw him lose control of his vehicle twice after striking a guard rail and street light. Kinew continued to drive several more kilometres with a blown-out front tire before police caught up to him at a parkade. Police reported Kinew as having and slurred speech, as well as being unsteady on his feet. A near-empty bottle of gin that was purchased that afternoon was found in the back seat. Kinew refused to undergo a breathalyzer after being taken into custody. For this incident, Kinew was convicted of impaired driving.
In June 2003, Kinew was charged by the RCMP with two counts of domestic assault related to allegations that he threw his then-girlfriend, Tara Hart, across a room during an argument.. A Crown attorney and Kinew's lawyer appeared in court several times between January and June 2004. The charges were subsequently stayed. Kinew denies the allegations, while Hart has continued to maintain otherwise. These charges were previously unknown to most during Kinew's public life, only coming to light in 2017 via anonymous emails sent to Winnipeg media outlets. Hart has said that she can only recall one alleged assault and does not know why two charges were filed. She claims that after she left Kinew, she was living outside Winnipeg and never heard from the Crown on why the charges were stayed.
On June 27, 2004, while bound by a court recognizance on his previous DUI charge, Kinew was arrested following an altercation with a taxi driver. Kinew was intoxicated when he caught the cab shortly before 5 in the morning. According to the Crown prosecutor, Kinew "began to insult the cab with some racial comments which continued until the driver reached the intersection of Portage Avenue and Fort Street." While stopped at a red light, Kinew exited the vehicle, approached the driver's side door window, which was open, and punched the driver in the face. A passerby yelled out and momentarily interrupted the assault. When the driver exited the cab, Kinew pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to CBC News. Kinew attempted to flee the scene when police arrived, and Kinew declined to discuss the incident after being taken into custody. The taxi driver suffered a small laceration to his elbow and swelling to his face. On page 70 of his 2015 memoir, The Reason You Walk, Kinew claimed he had grabbed a cab with friends and "hopped out without paying," after which:
The driver caught up with us and pushed me. I turned around and shoved him back. A passing cabbie saw what was happening, stopped his taxi and jumped out to help his fellow driver. He swung and hit me in the face. I grabbed him and swung back.It has been pointed out that Kinew's account of the incident in his book heavily differs from what was heard in court during his 2004 sentencing hearing.We stood in the middle of the street, arms flailing in full-on hockey fight mode. The police showed up and tackled me.
Also in 2004, Kinew was given a conditional discharge for an assault in Ontario after getting into a fight.Froese, Ian. 2019 August 14. " Raising Wab Kinew's troubled past makes sense, but still fraught with peril, political experts say ." CBC News. 2017 September 24. Retrieved 2023-08-27. Kinew also claims that in 2006 he was charged with stealing a money order, but that charge was stayed when he repaid the money.
Kinew has gone through various exercises to rehabilitate himself from his issues with alcohol, including attending and a sun dance ceremony where he fasted for four days and pulled buffalo skulls by piercings cut into his body. Kinew also began attending regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
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 in 2016. The Parole Board ruling removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre 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 September 2016, Kinew married Dr. Lisa Monkman, an Ojibwe family physician who practises medicine at an inner-city clinic. The couple welcomed a son in May 2017. Kinew has two sons from a previous relationship.
Kinew is trilingual: he speaks Ojibwe language, English language and French language.
Electoral record
Notes
External links
Categories: Official Website, 1981 Births, Living People, Premiers Of Manitoba, 21st-century Canadian Rappers, 21st-century First Nations Writers, 21st-century Canadian Memoirists, Al Jazeera People, Canadian Children's Writers, Canadian Male Rappers, Canadian Television Hosts, Canadian Television Journalists, Cbc Radio Hosts, Cbc Television People, First Nations Journalists, First Nations Rappers, First Nations Politicians, Ndp, Manitoba Book Awards Winners, Musicians From Winnipeg, Members Of The Executive Council Of Manitoba, New Democratic Party Of Manitoba Mlas, People From Kenora, Politicians From Winnipeg, Canadian Politicians Convicted Of Crimes, Academic Staff Of University Of Winnipeg, Writers From Winnipeg, 21st-century Canadian Male Musicians, Ojibways Of Onigaming People, Aurora Award–winning Writers, Fort Rouge, Winnipeg, 21st-century Members Of The Legislative Assembly Of Manitoba, 21st-century Heads Of Government In North America, 21st-century First Nations Musicians
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