Robert-Falcon Ouellette

Education

Robert-Falcon Ouellette attended Calgary’s independent Strathcona-Tweedsmuir School from 1990 to 1995. In 2001, he earned a Bachelor of Music in education from the University of Calgary and is a euphonium player. Ouellette completed two master’s degrees in music and education, as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree in anthropology, at Université Laval. He is only the second Indigenous person in the more than 350-year history of the university to obtain a PhD.

Personal Life

Robert-Falcon Ouellette experienced significant hardship in early life, including periods of homelessness as a child. He is married to Febe Ouellette and is the father of eight children, including one through Indigenous customary adoption.

Academic and Professional Career

From 2011 to 2015, Robert-Falcon Ouellette was program director of Aboriginal Focus Programs at the University of Manitoba. He later supported the development of Yellowquill University College, an Indigenous-run post-secondary institution in Manitoba.

In January 2023, Ouellette joined the University of Ottawa as an associate professor in the faculty of education. His teaching and research focus is on Indigenous education, Indigenous spirituality, territory, military ethics and political science.

Ouellette is also a French-language columnist for Radio-Canada. He writes a weekly column for Espaces autochtones (Indigenous Spaces) on issues affecting Indigenous peoples and Canadian society.

Politics

Robert-Falcon Ouellette ran for mayor of Winnipeg in the 2014 and 2022 municipal elections but was not elected.

Ouellette was elected as the Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre in the 2015 federal election. During his time in Parliament, he contributed to advances related to Indigenous child and family services, Indigenous language legislation, and reforms enabling the translation of Indigenous languages in the House of Commons.

Ouellette served as chair of both the House of Commons Liberal Indigenous caucus and the Parliamentary Indigenous caucus. He gave the first simultaneously translated speech from an Indigenous language in the House of Commons when he delivered a speech in Cree on 28 January 2019. Ouellette ran again in the 2019 federal election but was not elected.

Military Service and Indigenous Knowledge Keeper

Robert-Falcon Ouellette joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 1996 through the naval reserve at HMCS Tecumseh in Calgary. He continued his service in both the regular and reserve forces across Canada. Ouellette was the first non-commissioned member of the military in Canadian history to serve concurrently as a member of Parliament.

On 30 January 2025, the CAF named Ouellette their first Indigenous Knowledge Keeper. This position was created to support the recognition and inclusion of Indigenous spirituality within the CAF’s support services for members and their families (see also Religion and Spirituality of Indigenous Peoples in Canada). Ouellette trained for decades under Elder Dr. Winston Wuttunee.

Ouellette’s appointment was marked by a ceremony in Winnipeg and included his promotion to captain and transfer to the Royal Canadian Chaplain Service. He was assigned as chaplain for the Fort Garry Horse, a reserve armoured regiment in Winnipeg.