Wally Firth

Wally Firth
Member of Parliament for Northwest Territories
In office October 30, 1972 – May 21, 1979
Preceded by	Robert Orange
Personal details
Born	(1935-01-25)January 25, 1935 Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Canada
Died	March 2, 2024(2024-03-02) (aged 89) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Political party	New Democratic
Profession	Airplane pilot broadcaster flying instructor fur trader native rights worker

Walter Firth (January 25, 1935 – March 2, 2024) was a Canadian politician.

Biography

A Métis, Firth was the first Indigenous politician from the North to win a seat in the House of Commons of Canada. He served as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for the Northwest Territories during the 1970s. He was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1972 federal election and re-elected in 1974. He did not run for re-election in 1979, but attempted to return to the House of Commons in the 1980 election. He was defeated in the riding of Western Arctic.

In private life, Firth had various careers as an airplane pilot, flying instructor, broadcaster and fur trader. He was also active as a Native rights advocate.

Firth made another attempt to return to the House of Commons in the 1997 federal election, this time running as an Independent in Western Arctic, but was again unsuccessful.

Firth subsequently returned to the New Democratic Party attempting to win the party's nomination in Yukon for the 2004 election but was unsuccessful. He died in Victoria, British Columbia, on March 2, 2024, at the age of 89.

Electoral history

1997 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Ethel Blondin-Andrew	5,564	41.63	−20.84	$56,834
	New Democratic	Mary Beth Levan	2,579	19.29	+12.98	$22,393
	Reform	Mike Watt	1,966	14.71	+0.62	$4,546
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Dowdall	1,687	12.62	–0.71	$16,020
	Independent	Wally Firth	1,567	11.72	–	$8,857
Total valid votes			13,363	100.0
Total rejected ballots			94	0.70
Turnout			13,457	58.37
	Liberal hold		Swing		−16.91

1980 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Dave Nickerson	3,556	33.81	−1.35
	New Democratic	Wally Firth	3,537	33.63	+4.30
	Liberal	Gary Boyd	3,425	32.56	–0.59
Total valid votes			10,518	100.0
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		−2.82

1974 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Wally Firth	5,410	42.09	+2.27
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Ward	4,271	33.23	+2.36
	Liberal	Richard Whitford	3,173	24.68	−4.64
Total valid votes			12,854	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing		–0.04

1972 Canadian federal election: Northwest Territories
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Wally Firth	5,597	39.82	+27.07
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Ward	4,339	30.87	+7.43
	Liberal	Dick Hill	4,121	29.32	−34.48
Total valid votes			14,057	100.0
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+9.82

External links

• Wally Firth – Parliament of Canada biography