2020/21 Action Canada Vlogs – Jean-Sébastien Blais ’20

After a brief stay in Toronto, he moved with his wife to the Yukon in 2009. After a contract with the Council of Yukon First Nations, he joined the territorial public service in 2011 where he supported various departments for ten years in the area of policy analysis. In 2021, he joined the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada where he is currently the Director of Corporate Services for the Yukon Region.

Involved in his community, he was elected vice-president of the Association franco-yukonnaise in June 2011. In 2013, he was elected school trustee of the Commission scolaire francophone du Yukon (CSFY) and assumed the presidency of the council of commissioners in 2015. During his presidency, the CSFY signed a settlement agreement with the Government of Yukon in 2020 and opened Yukon’s first French-language secondary school the same year: Centre scolaire secondaire communautaire Paul-Émile-Mercier. Active on the national scene, he has represented the CSFY on the board of directors of the Fédération nationale des conseils scolaires (FNCSF) since 2015 and was, from 2019 to 2021, second vice-president of this organization.

In addition to his involvement with the francophone community, Mr. Blais has served on numerous boards of directors including the Board of Directors of the Yukon Human Rights Commission. He currently sits on the boards of the Yukon Liquor Corporation and Action Canada.  In 2020, Jean-Sébastien Blais was named a Fellow of Action Canada by the Public Policy Forum in recognition of his leadership. The same year, Francopresse recognized him as one of the ten influential personalities of the Canadian Francophonie.

Mr. Blais is married to Dorothy Williams, a teacher. Together they are the parents of three children.