Aaron Paquette is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

CEO, business-person, writer, artist, speaker"Artist Paquette pens his first novel; Fantasy tale not simply about 'being native'" ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

'', June 27, 2014. and politician who currently serves on the

Edmonton City Council The Edmonton City Council is the governing body of the City of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Edmonton currently has one mayor and twelve city councillors. Elections are held every four years. The most recent was held in 2021, and the next is in 20 ...

, representing Ward Dene in the city's northeast. He was first elected to the Edmonton City Council on October 16, 2017. He was a winner of the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature in 2015 for his debut young adult fantasy novel ''Lightfinder'' (Kegedonce Press). As a painter, his most notable works among many are a

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

mural at Edmonton's Government Centre station (formerly Grandin station.), pieces at the Royal Alberta Museum, and his work may also be found in the

Canadian Museum for Human Rights The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR; ) is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and List of national museums, national museum located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, adjacent to The Forks, Winnipeg, The Forks. The purpose of the ...

.Aaron Paquette
's page at Idle No More website. Accessed 17 Nov 2015.Is There a Future for Idle No More?
" by Aaron Paquette. November 30th, 2013. Accessed 17 Nov 2015He also created several iconic images used in the Idle No More movement. His murals are also present the walls of many Edmonton schools and public locations. He is featured in the documentary program, "From the Spirit." He was also a writer on the 2023 APTN feature documentary "re-ken-si-le-a-shen". Since 2020, Paquette has served as Honourary Chief Factor for Fort Edmonton Park. In late 2024, Paquette lost a son. Paquette is

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

of Cree (Nehiyaw), Cayuse and Norwegian descent.

Consulting work

Paquette was the president of Cree8 Success, a consulting firm."Aaron Paquette, a high profile candidate running for the NDP in Edmonton"
. '' APTN Investigates'', August 18, 2015. In 2012, Cree8 Success ran an Education Conference that hosted the following facilitators and presenters:

David Bouchard David Bouchard is a Canadian author and former high school principal. Bouchard was born and raised in Saskatchewan. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and a public school in Oshawa, Ontario is named after him. In his 2017 book, ''Proud to Be ...

Richard Wagamese Richard Wagamese (October 14, 1955 – March 10, 2017) was an Ojibwe Canadian author and journalist from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario. He was best known for his novel '' Indian Horse'' (2012), which won the Burt Aw ...

, Ryan McMahon, ASANI (musical trio made up of Debbie Houle, Sarah Pocklington, and Sherryl Sewepagaham), K.A.S.P. (a.k.a. Paul Sawan), Dawn Marie Marchand, Amanda Woodward (traditional dancer), and Richard Van Camp, in addition to Aaron Paquette. Paquette sold the assets of the corporation in 2017 after being elected to Edmonton City Council.

Politics

He ran as a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate in the riding of Edmonton Manning in the 2015 federal election, defeated by candidate

Ziad Aboultaif Ziad Aboultaif (Arabic: زياد أبو لطيف; born 10 September 1966) is a Canadian politician first elected to represent the riding of Edmonton Manning in the House of Commons in the 2015 federal election. Before politics On first com ...

of the Conservative Party. In

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, Paquette ran for

in Ward 4, which includes the neighbourhoods of Northeast Edmonton, Manning, and Clareview. Paquette defeated 11 other candidates for the seat with 23.79% of the vote. Paquette announced in March 2021 that he would seek re-election to the Edmonton City Council in October 2021. He emphasized that as a City Councilor he has focused on improving services for Edmonton residents and ending what are known as "ward wars," wherein municipalities fight with each other for budgets and support services. The 2021 municipal election saw changes to the ward names and boundaries, and Paquette was re-elected in Ward Dene, which includes his former Ward 4. He was among just a handful of councillors in the election to receive the majority of the vote in the ward involved - Paquette received 54 percent of the vote in his ward. He has served on the Alberta Industrial Heartland Association (2017–2021) with notable results, And as a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) member on the * Community Safety and Crime Prevention Standing Committee * Municipal Finance, Infrastructure and Transportation Standing Committee * Anti Racism and Equity Standing Committee * Participating member of the Big City Mayors Caucus Indigenous Circle.(2021–2025) * He also serves on the Regional Caucus/Prairies and Territories Caucus. On behalf of Edmonton City Council he has served on: * Climate Innovation Fund Executive Committee (Member) (2021–2025) * Edmonton Design Committee (Councillor Advisor) (2021–2015) * Enoch Stewardship Roundtable (Member) (2023–2025) * Sturgeon River Watershed Alliance Steering Committee (Member) (2017–2025) He is assumed to be running for re-election in the upcoming October 2025 municipal election.

Electoral record

2017 Edmonton city election elected as councillor 2021 Edmonton city election elected as councillor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paquette, Aaron 21st-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian muralists New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament Métis writers Métis painters Métis politicians Living people Canadian fantasy writers Canadian writers of young adult literature Canadian people of Norwegian descent Artists from Edmonton Edmonton city councillors Writers from Edmonton 21st-century Canadian male writers 21st-century First Nations writers First Nations novelists 1974 births Canadian male painters Novelists from Alberta