Harvey McCue

An Anishinabe educator and consultant, he co-founded the Native Studies department (now Indigenous Studies) at Trent University in 1969, the first such academic initiative in Canada, where he taught for 14 years from 1969 to 1983. As Director of Education Services for the Cree School Board in Northern Quebec for five years (1983-1988), Harvey provided direction and overall supervision for Cree elementary and secondary education in 10 Cree communities, and some 300 teachers. He became the first-ever First Nations Director General of Indian Education at INAC in Ottawa, where he served for five years (1988-1993). He also assisted the Migmaw in Nova Scotia, working as the first Chief Executive Officer and founder of the Mikmaq Education Authority for two and a half years (1993-1995). In 1999, he founded First Nations Youth At Risk, a charitable Aboriginal organization which provided community grants for youth at risk, and served as its President and National Coordinator. Harvey served as a governor of the Trent University Board of Governors, a board member of the National Reading Campaign, and recently completed his tenure as Chair of the Ontario Heritage Trust. He is currently on the board of the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund. He has served on the boards of Ontario Aboriginal Sports Circle, First Nations Technical Institute and Breakfast for Learning. He has numerous publications including editorials for the Journal of Canadian Studies, and a chapter in both Aboriginal Ontario and Tom Symons: A Canadian Life. From 2017 to 2019 he served as the Principal and Co-Director of the First Nations Youth Suicide Prevention curriculum and In August 2020, he completed a history curriculum for kindergarten to grade 12 for the Long Lake #58 First Nation in Ontario. He has an MA from McMaster University (1979) and has two grandchildren. He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2020. He joined the Stratford Festival's Board in March 2021 and serves on the Marketing & Communications committee.