Jean-Baptiste Roger Joseph Camille Teillet (21 August 1912 – 1 May 2002) was a Canadian politician, becoming the first self-identifying Métis member of the Canadian Cabinet in 1963.
Personal life
Early life
Jean-Baptiste Roger Joseph Camille Teillet was born on River Road in St. Vital, Manitoba, Born into one of Manitoba's most well-known Métis families, Roger Teillet was a direct descendant of Marie-Anne Gaboury and Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière, who were the first white settlers in Canada's west and were also the grandparents of Louis Riel. Roger was the grandson of Joseph Riel, Louis Riel's younger brother.
In January 1945, prisoners from camps all over Germany were herded from the camps and forced to walk the length and breadth of Germany, in an effort to evade the encroaching Allied armies. On 5 May 1945, Teillet and the others were turned over to the British Army not far from Bremen. Their guards surrendered and the prisoners were airlifted to Brussels.
Upon his return to Canada, Teillet went into the insurance business in Winnipeg.
Manitoba abandoned its multi-member constituencies in 1956, and Teillet was re-elected for the now single-member seat of St. Boniface in the 1958 provincial election. The Liberal-Progressives were defeated in this election, and Roger did not seek re-election in 1959.