Greg Mazur was born in Antler, Saskatchewan and was raised on a small farm in southwestern Manitoba near Sinclair. He and his brother enjoyed a wonderful childhood on the farm, with many close cousins that valued family and friends. Greg attended university in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Calgary. After this, he pursued a career in selling farm equipment in Brandon and Neepawa Manitoba.

In the late 70’s Greg, his wife Peggy and his brother Larry, father and mother Russ and Azilda, started North West Implements, a John Deere dealership, in Roblin Manitoba. Larry’s wife Donna soon joined the family and the two brothers soon became respected business partners and provided great service in the farming community. During this time, Greg and Larry were members of the Roblin Metis Association at which time he formed the start of a deep commitment to maintain the Metis culture, traditions and to advocate for the protection and benefit of the Metis people.

Upon the closure of the dealership, Greg moved to Armstrong BC in 1988 and worked for Western Indian Agriculture in Kamloops, providing loans to First Nation and Metis farmers. Greg and Peggy had two sons born in Vernon, Chris, and Dan. Then they moved to Kamloops to be closer to his work and volunteer communities.

Greg joined the Shuswap Okanagan Metis Association in 1989 and became President in 1990. Greg was a Regional Director for the Pacific Metis Federation (PMF) and was a representative for the PMF at the Back to Batoche gathering. Greg was on the board for the Kamloops Native Housing Society and in 1992 began as a Director of All Nations Trust Company (ANTCO). Greg is still a Director with ANTCO.

The Shuswap Okanagan Metis Association held a series of meetings in 1993 and 1994 that led to the formation of the Metis Provincial Council of BC, the forerunner to the MNBC. Greg and Peggy were proud to host Senator Thelma Challifoux , who stayed at their home for a number of meetings that she moderated in Kamloops. Those meetings signaled the beginning of uniting the fractured Metis communities in BC.

In 1994, Greg was hired by the Province of British Columbia as Aboriginal Economic Liaison where he oversaw the Aboriginal Economic Advisory Board, the First Citizens Fund and the Student Bursary fund. So, the family moved to Sidney and Greg worked in Victoria. While on the Island, Greg was a member of the Fraser-Braseau Clan and worked with Richard Larson to establish the Red River West celebrations. Greg later took a position as Director, with the Equal Opportunity Secretariat, with a mandate to increase the representation of Aboriginal people in the Provincial Government. Greg also sat on the Board of the Native Education Center in Vancouver during that time.

Due to a change in government and the program was abolished, Greg worked for a short time for MNBC and helped introduce a Workforce Partnership strategy in BC. He then took a federal job with the Department of Indian Affairs, to be the BC Aboriginal Workforce Participation Initiative (AWPI) representative. He moved his family to headquarters in Ottawa to deliver the strategy nationally as the Manager of National Partnerships. The AWPI staff and partners implemented a very successful strategy to increase the participation of Aboriginal people in the economy.

Greg developed and signed over 17 major Federal, Provincial partnerships with diverse groups such as Michelin Tire, The Federation of Canadian Nurses Unions, Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, the City of Grand Prairie and numerous others. During this time, Greg was able to connect with his relatives and visit his great- grandfather’s family home in Masham, Quebec, that is 300+ years old.

Greg returned to British Columbia in 2007, working in Vancouver for INAC as the Provincial Coordinator for Partnerships. He retired in Kelowna in 2010 due to health reasons.

Greg was President of the Kelowna Metis Association from 2013 to 2015 and is still an active Board member with ANTCO. He lives with his wife of 39 years, Peggy, in Westbank. And they officially tied the knot in their back yard this past July, with many friends and family from across Canada to help them celebrate in Metis style.