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Saganash represented the northern Quebec riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou from 2011 to 2019, serving as the Indigenous affairs critic.

He has not responded to a request for comment ¹ú²úÓÕ»ó¸£Àû sent by email on Friday, but APTN, which first broke the news, reports he confirmed the sexual-assault charge to them. The federal NDP has not responded to a request for comment.

Saganash had been one of the residential school survivors working with a national advisory committee for missing children and unmarked burials set up by the federal government and National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg.

A spokesman for the centre said Saganash no longer holds that role, and did not say why or when he ended that position.

Saganash, A Cree lawyer, helped to negotiate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As an MP, he put forward proposed legislation to implement it in Canada.

This report by ¹ú²úÓÕ»ó¸£Àû was first published Aug. 19, 2023.