Leonard (Len) Marchand, Okanagan, 1933-
He was the first Native federal Cabinet minister and
the second native member of the federal Parliament after Louis
Riel. Through early involvement with the North American Indian
Brotherhood, he left a career as agricultural research scientist
in 1965 to work as special assistant to two successive Cabinet
ministers. He was elected Liberal MP for Kamloops-Cariboo in 1968,
and was minister of state for small business 1976-77 and minister
of state for the environment 1977-79. Defeated in 1979, he returned
to British Columbia as administrator for the five-band Nicola
Valley Indian Administration. He has been a senator since 1984.
A low-profile politician considered successful in his ministerial
roles, Marchand represented a liberal-individualist approach to
business, environmental and Native issues. This, and his qualified
support for his party's native policies, set him apart from the
mainstream, both of Native and of environmentalist activism.
