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An image of the late Harry Daniels, Métis politician, activist, writer and actor, will grace a new commemorative stamp, unveiled today by Canada Post at an event in Regina. Daniels spent much of his life advocating for the rights of Métis and non-status Indians in Canada.
The official release of the stamp will be June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, along with two others honouring Jose Kusugak (Inuit), which will be unveiled June 14 at an event in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and Chief Marie-Anne Day Walker-Pelletier (First Nations), which will be unveiled June 15 at an event in Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask.
This stamp set is the inaugural release in Canada Post's new multi-year Indigenous Leaders series. The stamps will be available at canadapost.ca and postal outlets across Canada.
Born in Regina Beach, Sask., Daniels (1940-2004) was elected secretary-treasurer of the Native Council of Canada (now Congress of Aboriginal Peoples) in 1974 and later served as its president and chief executive officer.
He will be remembered in history and in law. Daniels successfully led the effort to enshrine the inherent rights of Métis and non-status Indians in Canada’s new Constitution Act, 1982. And in 1999, Daniels and several other plaintiffs launched Daniels v. Canada.
Daniels would not live to see the result of that court challenge. In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Federal Court ruling that Métis and non-status Indians are Indians under the British North America Act, 1867, and therefore, come under the federal government's jurisdiction.