He is Métis descent[2] and was the president of NunatuKavut, an unrecognised Indigenous group,[3] until his by-election win.

On May 24, 2005, Russell won a by-election in the riding of Labrador, vacated by the death of Liberal MP Lawrence D.

He was re-elected in the 2006 and 2008 federal elections and served as the Critic for Aboriginal Affairs in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet.

[5][6] Following his electoral defeat Russell returned to the position of NunatuKavut president and has been vocal in his opposition to the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project.

[7] In 2016, Russell called on the federal government to apologize for the treatment of residential school survivors from Newfoundland and Labrador.