Ethel Blondin-Andrew


Honourable Ethel Dorothy Blondin-Andrew, PC is a Canadian politician.
Blondin-Andrew is a Dene woman who was the Member of Parliament for the district of Western Arctic in the Northwest Territories. She was also Minister of State in the Liberal Cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin.
She was the first Aboriginal woman to be elected to the Parliament of Canada. She was first elected in the 1988 election. She received a BEd from the University of Alberta in 1974. Before embarking upon her political career, she spent many years working in the North as a teacher, and later as an Assistant Deputy Minister with the territorial government. Under Prime Ministers Chrétien and Martin, she served as Secretary of State then Minister of State, respectively, for Children and Youth.
In 2001, her work for Aboriginal communities was formally recognized by Brock University, who awarded her an honorary doctorate.
She was re-elected in the 2004 election by a razor-thin margin of 53 votes, and was voted out of office in the 2006 election, after 17 years of service.
Blondin-Andrew is currently Chair of Sahtu Secretarial Incorporated.

Select publications

Live your dreams: by following our vision, aboriginals are changing perceptions and inspiring others. Aboriginal Voices. 6:15 July/Aug. 1999