On April 7, 2021 the University of Manitoba Senate approved the addition of five Indigenousi Senators to the membership of Senate over and above any Indigenous Senators already serving on Senate as representatives for their respective Faculty and School Councils. This addition is intended to add Indigenous participation in Senate governance and is not to preclude Indigenous Senators to continue to be elected by individual Faculty and School Councils as well.
As such, and in keeping with the mechanisms available under the Standing Rules of Senate Relating to Members Elected Under Section 27 of the University of Manitoba Act, elections will be held, as required to ensure that there are five (5) Indigenous Senators as voting members of the University of Manitoba Senate over and above those elected by their Faculty or School Council.
FALL 2025 ELECTION RESULTS
The following members of the University of Manitoba's academic staff were elected by acclamation as leave replacements for the 2025-2026 academic year to ensure a full complement of Indigenous Senator representation.
Frank Deer, Faculty of Education
Michelle Driedger, College of Community and Global Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Indigenous Senators Election Timeline
September 16, 2025 Call for Nominations Opens
October 3, 2025 Nominations must be received by 12:00 PM CT
October 6, 2025 Nominees are announced to Faculty and School Councils
October 6, 2025 Voting Period Opens
October 17, 2025 Voting Period Closes at 4:30 PM CT
October 20, 2025 Newly elected Indigenous Senators are announced
i For the purposes of these elections, Indigenous means those individuals having historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies in Canada and their relatives across the border with the United States who regard themselves as part of the same nations (adapted from the United Nations definition of Indigenous).
Candidates for Election
Candidate biographies will be posted following the conclusion of the nomination period.
Frank Deer
Frank Deer is a professor in the Faculty of Education of the University of Manitoba. Frank is Kanienkeha’ka from Kahnawake, a community that lies just south of Tiotia’ke in the eastern region of the Rotinonshón:ni Confederacy. Frank earned a PhD in Educational Administration from the University of Saskatchewan. Frank studies Indigenous language education and Indigenous religious and spiritual orientations in schools. Frank has previously served as a classroom teacher in Northern Manitoba and in the Inner City of Winnipeg. In his time as a faculty member at the University of Manitoba, Frank has served as Canada Research Chair of Indigenous Education, Associate Dean of Indigenous Education, and Acting Executive Lead of Indigenous Achievement for the UM.
Michelle Driedger
Michelle Driedger is a Professor in the College of Community and Global Health, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in the Academy of Social Sciences, and a former Tier II Canada Research Chair in Health Risk Communication. She is a proud Red River Métis Citizen with the Bison Local in the Winnipeg Region. All of her Red River Métis health research is conducted in full partnership with the Manitoba Métis Federation Health and Wellness Department. Michelle is a leader in decolonizing and partnership-based research, focusing on health policy decisions made under conditions of uncertainty, like the H1N1 or COVID-19 pandemics. Sharing back research results with Red River Métis Citizens more broadly is very important to her.
Since 2010, she has regularly had an engagement booth at the Manitoba Métis Federation Annual General Assembly. In terms of experience with university governance, Professor Driedger served as Graduate Program Director (2017-2023) and as Department Head (2023-2025) in the former Department of Community Health Sciences. She has served the Office of the Vice-President Indigenous in several different capacities as a member of the Indigenous Advisory Circle (2020-2023), Indigenous Leadership & Community sub-committee member (2020-2023), Indigenous Identity Engagement Working Group (2022-2023), and the Indigenous Identity Policy and Procedures working group (2023-present). Since 2023, She has been the President's designate on the Senate Committee for University Research.
Election Results
Elected by acclamation as leave replacements for the 2025-2026 academic year are:
Professor Frank Deer, Department of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning, Faculty of Education
Professor Michelle Driedger, College of Community & Global Health, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences