Marc Miller and Everything You Need to Know About Him
Marc Miller, the newest immigration minister of Canada, is also an old friend of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Fluent in French, he has served as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of infrastructure and communities, the same ministry as the former immigration minister, now that the old immigration minister has left. Marc Miller has been elected as the new Immigration Minister in Canada.
Childhood and Early Life of Marc Miller
In 1973, Miller, the son of a Nova Scotian history professor and an anglophone Montrealer mother, was born. Born and raised in Montreal, Miller attended the College Jean-de-Brebeuf for his early schooling. In 1989, at the age of 16, Miller, then a supermarket grocer, was transferred to both serve his country and seek adventure, choosing to enlist in the Canadian Army as a soldier.
Miller left the army after four years (reaching the rank of infantry commander). He said that while the experience as a soldier was rewarding, he wants to pursue other things in his life.
Education and the Start of a Political Career
After initially serving as a soldier, Miller returned to Montreal to complete his studies. He graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Montreal. He went on to study law at McGill University, where he graduated with degrees in common law and civil law.
After graduating from college, Miller worked at the Canadian law firm Stikeman Elliot. Specializing in commercial law and mergers and acquisitions, the young lawyer then practiced law in Montreal, Stockholm, and New York.
Back in Montreal, Miller helped Justin Trudeau run for leader of the Liberal Party in 2013 as the future fundraising director for the prime minister.
In 2015, while seeking political office, Miller ran to represent Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, an equestrian district (i.e., constituency) in Quebec.
He was successfully elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 2015. Miller’s tenure was and continues to be warmly received by the residents of Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs. The politician is known for his work securing federal funding for affordable housing and public transportation and advocating childcare benefits for middle-class Montreal families. Miller also served as the chair of the Quebec Liberal Members of Parliament at this time.
Beginning of His Career in National Politics
On January 17, 2017, Miller was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, an office primarily concerned with the development and maintenance of Canada’s infrastructure. While his work in this office is once again highly regarded, his tenure here was short-lived.
On June 1, 2017, Miller made Canadian political history when he delivered a speech in the House of Commons of Canada entirely in Mohawk (an indigenous language spoken by the Mohawk people in Canada), marking the first time the language was used in Canada. Congress since the Union, almost 150 years to the present, in 1867.
Three months after that speech, Miller was appointed on behalf of Crown-Indigenous Relations as a parliamentary secretary in 2017. For the next three years, Miller fought for people’s rights. Indigenous People in Canada and the Federal Government’s Responsibility to Them In 2019, Miller was sworn in as Minister of Indigenous Services, and the following year he was appointed Minister of Royal-Indigenous Relations.
What’s Next for Marc Miller as an Immigration Minister?
Recent history is proof of what we can expect from Miller as immigration minister. Typically, new immigration ministers will spend their first term in office learning about key immigration issues in Canada. After that, they spend their time building relationships within Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Miller’s chief correspondent at IRCC will be the department’s deputy minister, Christiane Fox. Deputy ministers are non-political public servants tasked with carrying out the political priorities of the elected government. Trudeau has also publicly issued credentials to his ministers following major cabinet reshuffles.
If the case remains the same, we can expect Miller to receive another letter from Trudeau outlining the immigration policy issues he needs to focus on for the rest of the year.
The next election in Canada will take place in October 2025.
