Theodore (Ted) Fontaine is a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. He attended the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School from 1948 until 1958 and the Assiniboia Indian Residential School from 1958 to 1960. He is a regular speaker and media commentator on Indian residential schools and sees himself as not only a survivor, but a victor.

 

Theodore led a mineral exploration crew in the Northwest Territories for a global mining corporation, was chief of the Sagkeeng First Nation from 1979 to 1981, and has worked for the federal Secretary of State Department and the Northwest Territories Region of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. He was executive director of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and served as a strategic advisor to the chiefs on Indian residential school issues. He was instrumental in negotiating and finalizing the national employment equity settlement with national corporations and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

 

Theodore is currently a director on the board of Peace Hills Trust, a national financial institution serving Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal businesses across Canada, and is an end-of-life volunteer with the Manitoba Hospice and Palliative Care Association. He previously served on multiple boards and faculties including the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute, the Manitoba Museum, the Banff Centre of Management, and the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON). Ted lives with his wife, Morgan, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.