Canada's first Mi'kmaw senator retires from Red Chamber

Canada's first Mi'kmaw senator has retired from Canada's upper house.

Dan Christmas of Membertou was appointed in 2016. He says he's leaving the Red Chamber — as the Senate is sometimes called — to spend more time with his daughter.

Christmas said he eventually adjusted to work in the Senate and is proud of his accomplishments, but at first it wasn't easy.

"The first six months, it was hell," Christmas told Information Morning Cape Breton. "I really thought I'd made a mistake. It's just so foreign. It is just so different, especially for a Mi'kmaw person coming from where I come from to go to a chamber that's got this long tradition.

"I told people if somebody dropped me out of a plane in the country of China, that would have been the same experience. It was so bewildering."

In the end, Christmas said he figured things out and enjoyed bringing a personal perspective on the Mi'kmaq to the Senate.

'I began to make a difference'

"I began to make a difference," he said. "I began to do things, I think, that made a difference not only for the Mi'kmaq, [but] for the Indigenous people. I brought the voices of Cape Breton, specifically, although I'm representing all of Nova Scotia."

When he was first appointed, Christmas said he felt like an ambassador for the Mi'kmaq to the government of Canada.

About 18 months later, he took the unusual step — for a senator — of opening a fully functioning office with staff in his home community.

Some MPs took exception to the move because they're elected and senators are appointed, Christmas said.

But being accessible to people was just a natural part of who he has always been as a politician, he said.

"Just the feel of being connected to the community ... was very important to me."

At that time, his name also appeared on a list of potential mayoral candidates for Cape Breton Regional Municipality for a survey done by a local social development agency.

In his usual affable style, Christmas laughed that off, saying he intended to remain a senator.

He also laughed recalling how he had defied the prime minister before even officially becoming a senator.

Justin Trudeau called Christmas the night before the announcement and said to keep it a secret until the appointment became official.

Christmas was at his mother's house for his sister's birthday party and had taken the call in the basement because of the noisy party.

After the call, he went upstairs and told his wife, Dozay, and realized he'd have to tell his mom.

Christmas whispered in her ear, but she didn't hear because of the party.

'The table was jumping up and down'

He repeated it twice more, but by that time everyone had gone quiet and heard.

"My mom still didn't hear it, but the table was jumping up and down," Christmas said.

"When I left the house that evening, I forgot the promise I made to the prime minister about keeping this quiet and before I left the house it was already on Facebook."

Christmas said he was grateful for the six years he spent in the Senate.

He chaired the Indigenous Peoples Committee and helped stickhandle legislation on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"I would say that was the highlight of my time in the Senate," he said. "It was also my lowest point."

The low point occurred the year before, after an Indigenous NDP MP from Ontario introduced a private member's bill to have Canada's laws harmonized with the UN declaration.

The Liberal government supported it and it passed in the House of Commons.

It looked like it would pass in the Senate, as well, but Conservative members opposed it.

Delaying tactics held up the bill, but it eventually passed.

Christmas said that left him angry.

"I've never felt so disgusted with the political process," he said.

But the high point came shortly after, when the prime minister announced the same bill would go through again, but this time under government power.

It passed with a landslide vote in favour, Christmas said.

Happy to be a dad

His wife died three years ago, but Christmas said that's not why he is retiring.

He said he enjoyed working from home during the pandemic and looking after his adopted daughter, but with the return to Ottawa, he had to make a choice.

But it's a choice Christmas was happy to make.

"I've told senators, don't think being a single parent at home looking after Gail is a chore or grief or anything like that," he said. "I actually greatly enjoy being a dad."

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