simply because there's no precedent doesn't mean that it's not the right thing to do." He is the former chancellor of University College of the North in northern Manitoba, and delivered his inaugural address at a ceremony on November 6, 2007. On June 12, 2009, Ovide Mercredi received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Athabasca University. Mercredi became Chief of the Misipawistik Cree Nation and served his community from 2005 to 2011. In 2012, Mercredi endorsed Sheila Copps' bid for the presidency of the Liberal Party of Canada. In 2013, Ovide Mercredi received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Manitoba. He was elected president of the Manitoba New Democratic Party on March 7, 2015. While now the president of a political party, he has previously publicly questioned the utility of voting. Mercredi, at the age of 72, announced that he would step down from his position. On October 22, 2015, Ovide Mercredi launched his book of poetry called My Silent Drum published by Aboriginal Issues Press. All proceeds of the book will go towards a scholarship for an indigenous student at the University of Manitoba. See also Aboriginal Canadian personalities References 7.https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ovide-Mercredi 1946 births Assembly of First Nations chiefs Cree people Living people Members of the Order of Manitoba Robson Hall alumni Canadian political party presidents New Democratic Party of Manitoba politicians Political office-holders of Indigenous governments in Canada First Nations lawyers 20th-century Canadian lawyers 21st-century Canadian lawyers Lawyers in Manitoba Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from Winnipeg