Footprints 2004:
Phone: (780) 455-2700Fax
(780) 455-7639
Email: edwind@ammsa.com
Phone: (780) 455-2700
Fax
(780) 455-7639Email: edwind@ammsa.com
[Footprints] Clarence Campeau:
Metis visionary leader, promoted education success
When people say someone is so generous they'd give you the
shirt off of their back, they are usually speaking figuratively.
With Clarence Campeau, that statement could be taken at face
value.
Campeau was a man known for his generosity, for his sense of
humor and for his dedication to improving the lot of the Métis
people of Saskatchewan.
Campeau was born in 1947 near Rose Valley, Sask. The community
he grew up in was predominantly white, but he never noticed any
differences between himself and the rest of the people living
there. That changed when he was in his early teens and he began
dating. He was very handsome and all the girls in town had crushes
on him, which made the local boys jealous. Whenever he would
go out with a girl the boys would tease her, calling her an Indian
lover. Campeau began to feel that he didn't fit in within white
society so he decided to try living on reserve. Then, after being
thrown off more reserves than he could remember, he discovered
that he didn't belong there either. He wandered for a while,
lost, without a sense of identity, turning to alcohol to help
escape from his problems.
Then when he was 18 he met Napoleon LaFontaine, who was working
to establish the Association of Métis and Non-Status Indians
of Saskatchewan, the forerunner of today's Métis Nation-Saskatchewan
(MNS). LaFontaine told Campeau he was of mixed blood. He was
Métis. He now knew who he was, where he fit. He gave up
drinking for good and, once he got his life back on track, he
began dedicating himself to helping other Métis people
do the same.
Campeau was area director of the MNS Eastern Region II on an
off over the years. He left the position once while he was sick
with cancer, other times after unsuccessful election bids, but
he always came back to it.
While area director he worked to bring in a number of programs
designed to improve the lives of Métis people in the region.
Looking for ways to create economic opportunities, Campeau formed
a construction crew that built homes for Sask. Housing. When
that ended, the region branched out into cabinet-making and other
ventures. But Campeau aspired to move beyond these types of projects,
wanting instead to work toward having Métis people become
full and active participants in the mainstream economy.
What Campeau envisioned was to see economic development among
the Métis people integrated into mainstream society. That
didn't mean assimilation, and it didn't mean segregation. What
it meant was continuing to protect and promote Métis culture
while working with non-Métis people in true partnership
arrangements, where each partner has equal ownership and equal
control. He knew the province couldn't afford to run three parallel
structures, one for the Métis, one for First Nations and
one for non-Aboriginal people. What was needed was one integrated
structure shared equally by all three groups, and designed to
work for everybody.
He was a strong supporter of the idea of Métis self-government,
but he knew that for self-government to work first the Métis
people would have to be self-sufficient. And before they could
be self-sufficient, they had to deal with the social challenges
facing Métis people, addictions and family violence among
them.
Under Campeau's leadership the region began offering programs
that addressed all of these needs. Social programs were started,
along with education and training programs that took a holistic
approach, dealing not only with the students but with their families
and communities to help students overcome the challenges they
faced in trying to get an education.
Campeau, who only had a Grade 8 education, was by and large a
self-taught man who could hold his own with anyone regardless
of how educated they were or how highly placed. But he knew the
value of an education, and spent much time and effort getting
the message out to Métis youth that they needed to stay
in school. They needed to get an education in order to be successful.
He'd often tell them that once you had an education, no one could
take it from you.
The region started offering a preparatory class, then added a
two-year business administration class and a social work program.
Someone once asked Campeau why the region would run a social
work program when there were already too many social workers.
He answered that there may have been too many social workers,
but there weren't enough Métis social workers.
His dedication to the Métis people went far beyond just
offering programs. He also got personally involved in helping
people as well. It wasn't uncommon for him to give a person down
on their luck clothes right out of his own closet, or to bring
a young person who had lost their way into his home until they
could get back on their feet.
Those who knew him call him a statesman and a visionary. He was
a gifted negotiator, able to diffuse even the tensest of situations.
He had a great sense of humor and loved to tell stories. He treated
everyone with respect, with no regard to skin color or social
standing. And he brought out the best in everyone he had dealings
with. He had a way of making everyone feel special, from his
wife and children to the people he dedicated his life to helping.
In 1997 Campeau was having problems with his heart. His arteries
were clogged and he needed bypass surgery. He went into the hospital
for tests and doctors injected dye into his veins so they could
see where the blockages were, but it proved too much for him
and his arteries collapsed.
He was only 50 years old when he died. When family and friends
think back on what he'd accomplished, they also wonder how much
more he could have done if he'd only had more time.
Campeau's name and legacy live on through the Clarence Campeau
Development Fund (CCDF), which was established by the Métis
Society of Saskatchewan in 1997. Campeau had been involved in
the negotiations with the provincial government that would lead
to creation of the fund, but passed away before the organization
became a reality.
The aim of the CCDF, which gets funding from the province's gaming
revenues, is to help improve the economic circumstances of Métis
people in the province by providing funds for business development
and community economic development. It also provides assistance
with business planning and training to help new Métis-owned
businesses succeed. It provides a first step towards Campeau's
goal of self-sufficiency for the Métis people.
His legacy also lives on in the cultural camp he started 10 years
ago for Métis youth age eight to 12 where they go and
learn about who they are, where they fit in, and what the future
holds for them if they stay in school and get an education.
It lives on through his friends, family and colleagues who still
speak of him often, remembering the way he touched their lives.
And it lives on through the many programs that he started and
that others have carried on out of their own commitment to the
Métis people and their commitment to Campeau himself.
His picture still hangs in the main office of the Eastern Region
II office and, even though he's been gone for seven years, in
a way the people working there feel like they still report to
him. Even now, they don't want to let him down.