This Métis advocate finds meaning in uplifting his community and sharing their stories around the world

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Justin Langan, 26, grew up in Swan River, Man., a town of 4,000 people about 500 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. He says he felt bored and different growing up in the isolated, rural town, but found his stride around age 16 when he was elected president of his school’s student council, became more active in his Métis community and came out as gay.

Mr. Langan has been on a trajectory of community service and leadership ever since. He helped start Métis youth committees throughout the province while volunteering with the Manitoba Métis Federation as a teen and was active with student organizations while studying at the University of Manitoba.

In recent years, Mr. Langan has travelled around the world to meet with other young people and speak about Indigenous issues, including this winter at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and the Arctic Youth Conference in Norway. He won a National Volunteer Award in 2023 and is currently working as a parliamentary intern at the House of Commons of Canada.

In this series, Reimagining Wealth, we explore the evolving definition of wealth in today’s world. Here, Mr. Langan talks about building a fulfilling life through activism and community.

Tell me about Swan River and the Métis community there.

Swan River is a big part of my heart and my identity, but I wasn’t always proud of the community I came from, a rural conservative community. I struggled growing up there and not fitting in. There was always a yearning to leave town.

The Manitoba Métis Federation has a large presence within the community. Growing up, my second home was the [Elbert Chartrand] Friendship Centre, which was the cornerstone of community within Swan River. I got my first job there as a bingo runner and I learned a lot about my Métis identity through things like jigging [a dance that combines First Nations dancing with Scottish and French-Canadian step dancing] and fiddling at the Friendship Centre.

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You got into activism at an early age. How did that come about?

Safe space is a word that a lot of people like to throw around, but [the Friendship Centre] was a space where you could actively engage and talk about ideas. I helped start a youth council there and then got involved at the regional level and with a provincial youth advisory committee.

I used to complain and say, ‘There’s nothing to do here. There’s not enough support. There’s so much stuff that needs to be improved, who’s going to do it?’ When I started saying, ‘What can I do to help?’ things snowballed from there.

I haven’t always been this happy. Now, I am happy, but I am not taking it for granted and I am taking every day one step at a time.

Who has inspired you along your path? Do you have any role models?

I would [say] speakers from the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) and the Friendship Centre and seeing leadership from within Indigenous organizations. I always got motivated by the people I spoke with and the youth I engaged with.

My mom, who is not Indigenous, has been involved with the Friendship Centre and hockey. I saw my mom doing stuff in the community and thought I could do it, too. My dad, who is Indigenous, grew up in the bush. He is quiet and introverted but also very creative. I looked up to them both.

Looking at my dad, who would paint and do woodwork and hunt and trap and engage with the land, that was something I appreciated, especially as an Indigenous male.

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You came out as gay the same year you began your advocacy journey. How does that part of your identity play into the work you do?

I was always proud of my Indigenous heritage, but there were other aspects that were uncomfortable for some sectors of the population in Swan River. If you are a man and you wear a scarf in a small town in Manitoba on a winter day, you will get a look. I struggled with that.

When I first came out, portions of my immediate family weren’t accepting, some friends weren’t accepting. But to my surprise, there were a lot of people in the community who were. I respected their acceptance but also thought, ‘What if someone came out as trans?’

That’s why it’s important for me to be out, to still be advocating for not just other queer people and gay people, but for those in the trans community, who are increasingly under threat. If anyone has the privilege to have a voice, they should be using it to build those bridges.

You’re working as an intern at the House of Commons. What got you interested in politics given that many young people feel disillusioned with the political system?

Now, more than ever, young people have a cynical attitude toward the future – rightfully so, with everything happening in the world. There are questions about whether there will even be a world to grow up in. There is a lot of pressure and eco-anxiety.

Being in politics now, the ideas are much more static and [I’ve noticed] there’s no urgency within the room. That is something that concerns me. With young people there’s an urgency. There’s anxiety about, ‘Will I get a house? Will I make rent? Will I afford food this month?’ [They think,] ‘Why bother being involved in politics when the systems haven’t worked for me?’

I always wanted to be involved in something that can do good for the community. As I matured, I saw that becoming involved in political systems [provides] a genuine opportunity to do something for your community and change systems to become more inclusive and more diverse.

In future, I see myself becoming more involved in politics in one aspect or another. I want to tell young people to not be afraid to challenge the system and not be afraid to engage.