INDIAN BROOK — When teacher Magdalene Michael asks her young aboriginal students what they’d like to be when they grow up, she often hears "teacher" and "fireman."

After Friday’s visit by Manitoba MP Tina Keeper, who also portrayed an RCMP officer in the CBC television series North of 60, she’s expecting they’ll add actor and politician to the list.

"It was so eye-opening; everything went so well," said Ms. Michael, who teaches grades 1 and 2 at the Shubenacadie First Nation school here and who was a big fan of the show, which aired in the 1990s.

Ms. Keeper, a Cree and the MP for Churchill, spent an hour trying to inspire the roughly 30 students in attendance to do their best, look for opportunities and overcome the problems that may affect their lives, whether they are addictions, abuse, family and peer pressure, or suicide.

"I love your T-shirt," the Liberal politician said to one little boy in the crowd of students, parents and the public. "It says, Genius by Birth, Crazy by Choice. That’s kind of how I’d like to think of myself."

She spoke frankly about being a shy teenager who quit high school and struggled with addictions before reaching out for help and getting her life on track.

"My parents who were really strict said either I go to school or get a job." She did the latter, spending eight hours a day gluing tiny provincial emblems on souvenir spoons.

"That was, like, not fun. You think it’s not fun being in school."

Today, the mother of two teenagers urges students to at the very least finish Grade 12, even if it takes a long time, and encourages them to reach out for help when they need it.

"I was the teenager in the community . . . that people literally said to, ‘You’ll amount to nothing, Tina.’ But I knew somewhere deep inside me that I would," she said.

"I didn’t think I’d be an actress or an MP, but I thought I’m going to one day go to university, I’m going to be able to buy a car and be able to send my kid to hockey.

"Even though there are issues with friends, bullying, family or addictions, there’s always a way through it."

Ms. Keeper visited Indian Brook, located near Shubenacadie, with fellow Liberal MP Scott Brison, who represents Kings-Hants.

She was first elected to the House of Commons in January 2006 but is likely best known nationally for portraying Lynx River’s native RCMP Const. Michelle Kenidi in North of 60, set in the Northwest Territories.