draft Newsletter January 2016

Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Prime Minister Meets with National
Aboriginal Leaders to Begin Reconciliation
“And the presence of Cabinet
Ministers holding key posts like
In d i g e n o u s a n d No r t h e r n
Affairs, Justice, Health, and
E m p l o y m e n t a n d Tr a i n i n g
demonstrated his belief in a
whole-of-government approach
to achieve it.”
President Chartier and VicePresident Chartrand outlined
effective means for the roll-out
o f t h e Pr i m e M i n i s t e r ’s
campaign commitments to the
Métis Nation on economic
development, skills and
development, and scholarships
and bursaries.
On December 16, 2015, Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau and
seven Cabinet Ministers met
w i t h Na t i o n a l Ab o r i g i n a l
Leaders in Ottawa, earning
p r a i s e f r o m M é t i s Na t i o n
leaders for his commitment to
advance toward reconciliation.
In a historic three hour meeting
in the Aboriginal Room in
Parliament, National Aboriginal
Leaders responded to the Prime
Minister’s request to identify implementation plans to ensure
tangible outcomes related to the
Liberals’
campaign
commitments.
“The Prime Minister proved he
is serious about reconciliation,”
said MNC President Chartier.
In the discussion of the process
g o i n g f o r w a r d , Pr e s i d e n t
Chartier emphasized to the
Prime Minister the need for a
distinctions-based, nation-tonation bilateral process between
the federal government and the
Métis Nation. His call was
echoed by the First Nations and
Inuit leaders. In an Assembly of
First Nations news release
Continued on next page
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
earlier that day, National Chief
Bellegarde stated:
“It was clear at today’s meeting
that working nation-to-nation
means that First Nations, the
Metis Nation and Inuit peoples
each need their own approach
with the federal Crown. We
are distinct peoples with our
own unique rights, approaches
and priorities. We will stand
with our Indigenous brothers
and sisters in calling for action
and engagement but the
ongoing relationship must be
bilateral, not multilateral.”
MNC Vice-President/MMF
President David Chartrand
concluded
the
MNC
presentation by praising the
Prime Minister for acting on his
campaign commitment to
immediately establish a
negotiations process between
Canada and the Manitoba Métis
Federation in order to settle the
outstanding land claim of the
Manitoba Métis community, as
recognized by the Supreme
Court of Canada in Manitoba
Métis Federation v. Canada.
“We are pleased with progress
toward securing a Cabinet
mandate for the negotiation and
settlement of a MMF land claim
agreement,” said Chartrand.
“On September 28, 2013, Liberal
leader Justin Trudeau promised
to negotiate in good faith,
nation to nation, a fair and
equitable resolution of the
historic injustice faced by our
people and, as Prime Minister,
he is proving to be true to his
word.”
In q u i r y i n t o M i s s i n g a n d
Murdered Indigenous Women
and Girls.
In a further demonstration of
the government’s commitment
to fulfill its campaign
promises,
Minister
of
Indigenous Affairs Carolyn
Bennett, Justice Minister Jody
Wilson-Raybould, and Minister
of Status of Women Patty Hajdu
m e t w i t h t h e Na t i o n a l
Ab o r i g i n a l L e a d e r s i n t h e
afternoon to begin the planning
of the design of the National
“ T h e M N C ’s G o v e r n i n g
Members and the Women of
the Métis Nation have a lot of
experience and expertise in
dealing with preventive
measures that can be effective
in the fight against this national
t r a g e d y, ” s a i d Pr e s i d e n t
Chartier. “I am hopeful and
confident that they will play a
meaningful role in the inquiry.”
Women of the Métis Nation
President Melanie Omeniho
joined President Chartier, VicePr e s i d e n t C h a r t r a n d a n d
MNBC President Dumont in
these discussions.
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
New Canada - Métis Nation Relationship Begins
The MNC and federal Minister
of Indigenous Affairs Carolyn
Bennett began to chart a new
course in Canada-Métis Nation
relations at a meeting in Ottawa
on December 14, 2015.
The meeting was set to explore
ways of moving ahead on the
Liberal government’s Métis
Na t i o n p o l i c y a n d r e l a te d
commitments unveiled during
the recent federal election
campaign. MNC President
Chartier, Vice-President David
Chartrand, MNBC President
Bruce Dumont and Women of
the Métis Nation President
Melanie Omeniho joined the
Minister in a cordial and
informative discussion on how
to translate the policy and
commitments into effective
m e a s u r e s i n t h e u p co m i n g
budget and future initiatives.
The government’s Métis Nation
policy, “Advancing and Achieving
Reconciliation for the Métis
Nation”, included a number of
uprecedented commitments to
the Métis people: to
immediately establish a
L-R: David Chartrand, Clément Chartier, Minister Carolyn Bennett
negotiations process between
Canada and the Manitoba Métis
Fe d e r a t i o n t o s e t t l e t h e
outstanding land claim further
to the landmark decision of the
Supreme Court of Canada in
MMF v. Canada in 2013; to
establish a federal claims
process to address Métis rights
protected by section 35 of the
Constitution Act 1982; to move to
an ongoing and reliable base of
f u n d i n g ; a n d to u n d e r t a ke
crucially important investments
i n M é t i s Na t i o n s k i l l s
development and economic
development institutions.
“Minister Bennett impressed my
colleagues and me with her
genuine interest in seeking our
ideas and recommendations for
concrete solutions to the major
chal lenges facing us”, said
President Chartier. “ As she said,
this wa s the first of many
meetings to come to work
through the issues and come up
with effective actions. We really
look forward to a collaborative
relationship with her.”
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Trudeau Government Acts on National Inquiry
into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
O n D e ce m b e r 8 , 2 0 1 5, t h e
Government of Canada
announced the launch of a
national inquiry to address the
high number of missing and
murdered Indigenous women
and girls.
The announcement of the
national inquiry was made in
Ottawa by the three Ministers
who will immediately begin
engaging with survivors, family
members and loved ones of
victims, as well as National
Aboriginal, pro vincial, and
territorial representatives to
seek their views on the design
and scope of the inquiry. The
Ministers are the Honourable
Carolyn Bennett, Minister of
In d i g e n o u s a n d No r t h e r n
Affairs, the Honourable Jody
Wilson-Raybould, Minister of
Justice and Attorney General of
Canada, and the Honourable
Patty Hajdu, Minister of Status
of Women.
M N C Pr e s i d e n t C h a r t i e r
commended the Ministers for
their prompt action:
“I appreciate the fact that they
have launched the inquiry now
and are committed to hearing
from those directly affected as
w e l l a s t h e Na t i o n a l a n d
provincial
Ab o r i g i n a l
representatives and Indigenous
women’s organizations in the
design of the inquir y,” said
President Chartier.
At the end of this engagement
process, the Government will
report back on what has been
heard from the participants. The
views and ideas expressed by all
par ticipants wil l al low the
Government to develop the
inquiry, including the mandate,
the terms of reference, the
format of the Inquiry, and the
timeline.
“The MNC and its Governing
Members and Women of the
Métis Nation can be counted on
to contribute to this inquiry
design process,” said President
Chartier. “It is important that
we get this right.”
UPCOMING EVENTS
• 2nd National Roundtable on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)
Winnipeg, MB February 25-26, 2016
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
MNC Participates in Planning of
National Health Accord Renewal
On January 21, 2016, Indigenous
leaders, federal Health Minister
Jane Philpott and provincial and
territorial health ministers met
in Vancouver on the planning of
national Health Accord renewal.
He a l t h
Ministers
and
representatives of the AFN,
MNC and ITK agreed on the
inclusion of First Nations, the
M é t i s Na t i o n a n d In u i t i n
developing a formal process
w i t h i n t h e b r o a d e r He a l t h
Accord discussion to better
d e te r m i n e h o w p r o v i n c i a l ,
territorial
and
federal
governments can meet health
needs in their respective health
systems. The agreement was
reached in advance of today’s
meeting in Vancouver of Federal,
provincial and territorial Health
Ministers to negotiate a new
Health Accord that will include
a l o n g - te r m a g r e e m e n t o n
funding and setting national
priorities on health care.
Métis Nation British Columbia
President Bruce Dumont who is
M N C ’s He a l t h M i n i s t e r,
applauded the decision on
Indigenous peoples’ inclusion in
the process:
“Having the Métis Nation at the
table with federal and provincial
Health Ministers will enable us
to tackle the barrier of
jurisdiction that has long
delayed dealing with critical
Métis Nation health issues by
Ottawa and the provinces,” said
D u m o n t . “ We r e a l l y n e e d
cooperation of all jurisdictions
with the Métis Nation to deal
with the acute chronic disease
issues of Métis people.”
MNC President Chartier also
vie wed the a greement a s a
breakthrough for the Métis
Nation:
“It speaks to the sincerity of the
Trudeau government early in its
term in pressing ahead with the
First Nations, the Métis Nation
and Inuit to begin closing the
gap in health outcomes with the
overall Canadian population,”
said Chartier. “ This is consistent
with
the
g o v e r n m e n t ’s
commitment to fulfill the vision
of the Kelowna Accord and the
spirit of reconciliation that
drove it.”
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Harvesting Rights Case in Saskatchewan
Over the past four years three Métis, two from Meadow Lake and one from Chitek Lake were charged with hunting and <ishing without a licence, even though Métis in that part of the province saw their hunting and <ishing rights af<irmed by the provincial court in the 2005 Laviolette case. The Métis Legal Research and Education Foundation, a non-­‐
pro<it organization incorporated in 2002 by Kathy Hodgson-­‐
Smith, the late Flora Shatilla and C l e m C h a r t i e r h a s b e e n providing a pro bono defence. Kathy Hodgson-­‐Smith, Dwayne “Trudeau” Roth and Clem C h a r t i e r a r e t h e l a w y e r s providing the defence for the three defendants. To date, seven days of trial have taken place in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan for community witnesses. There is one further day for community witnesses; April 8 th in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Numerous (about 45) witnesses have participated to date, including w i t n e s s e s f ro m M a n i to b a , Saskatchewan, Alberta, and one from BC; MNBC President Bruce Dumont. President David Chartrand of the Manitoba Métis Federation and MMF Cabinet Minister, Will Goodon (of the Goodon case) also testi<ied, as d i d K a r e n C o l l i n s o f t h e Provincial Council of the Métis Nation of Alberta, along with President Ron Quintal of Fort McKay and Vice-­‐President Bill Loutitt of Fort McMurray. The week of June 6, 2016 has been reserved for testimony from expert witnesses, such as Dr. Frank Tough, Prof Brenda McDougall, John Thornton and Laura Hanowski. Likely, we will need more than one week for this testimony. The Crown will then put on its case, and when legal/closing arguments are <inally concluded, we expect a decision sometime in late 2017 or early 2018. This case will add to the trilogy to date where the courts have con<irmed Métis harvesting rights: in 1997 the Court of Queens Bench in Morin and Daigneault af<irmed that the M é t i s o f n o r t h w e s t Saskatchewan have <ishing rights, the 2005 Laviolette decision extended the northwest Saskatchewan Métis rights bearing regional community to include Meadow Lake, and in L-R: Dwayne Roth, Kathy HodgsonSmith, and Clem Chartier
2 0 0 7 t h e B el h u m e u r c a s e established Métis <ishing rights in the Qu’Appelle Valley and environs, including the City of Regina. Even with these three victories in northern and southern Saskatchewan the MNS and the provincial government have been unable to conclude a p r o v i n c e -­‐ w i d e h a r v e s t i n g agreement, which hopefully will < i n a l ly b e d o n e w i t h t h e anticipated victory <lowing from this trial.
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Tragedy in La Loche
On January 22, 2016 President Chartier received the sad and s h o c k i n g n e w s f r o m t h e Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN) Chief, Ted Clark, that several people were shot at a home and secondary school in La Loche resulting in several dead and others wounded. President Chartier was assured t h a t h i s < i f t e e n ye a r o l d granddaughter was safe, but nevertheless took the news with a heavy heart for the families of the victims, many of whom he knows personally. Also distressing over the following days was the lack of acknowledgment of the Métis residents of La Loche by the news coverage and municipal and provincial government representatives including the Métis mayor and the Premier, both of whom never once mentioned the word “Métis”, even though the Premier was in La Loche twice for meetings with the municipal government and CRDN leaders. It was as if the Métis in La Loche, which has a majority Métis population, w e re i nv i s i b l e . I n t h i s Prime Minister Trudeau and Chief Ted Clark
connection, in both meetings, the <irst with the Premier, the second with the Prime Minister and the Premier, President Chartier was only able to attend as a guest of the CRDN Chief. N e v e r t h e l e s s , P r e s i d e n t Chartier was steadfast in his praise for the municipal, CRDN, p r o v i n c i a l a n d f e d e r a l governments for their quick and compassionate responses, as well as the unquali<ied response o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n o f Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) for the families at the h o s p i t a l i n S a s k a t o o n , regardless of whether the families were First Nations or Métis. Following the meetings with the Prime Minister on Friday, January 29th President Chartier was assured by federal Health Minister Philpott, who was at the meeting with the Prime Continued on next page
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Minister, that the Métis of La Loche would not be excluded in t h e fe d e ra l g ove r n m e n t ’ s response to the tragedy, that jurisdiction would not be a barrier to service. The next morning, President Chartier was contacted by Health Canada informing him that Métis re p re s e n t a t ive s wo u l d b e included in the daily conference call brie<ings going forward. In the wake of the shock, s o r r o w, c o n f u s i o n a n d a shattered community, more clarity has emerged. Both the F i r s t N a t i o n a n d M é t i s communities will be engaged in the process as the village of La Loche and the CRDN First Nation move forward in an attempt to address what went wrong and how to prevent similar tragedies in the future and ensure that the federal and provincial governments live up to their commitments. President Chartier made a commitment to the Métis of La Loche that he will help the Métis community get re-­‐
organized and ensure that its voice is heard and presence engaged as the village moves forward in its response to this tragedy.
Part of the audience at the meeting with Prime Minister
Should you wish to contribute to assist with funeral costs to the families or for the trial on
Harvesting Rights Case in Saskatchewan, please mail your cheque to:
Metis Legal Research and Education Foundation Inc
311 21st Street East
Saskatoon, SK S7K 0C1
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Message from the President
As we enter the year 2016 , we can re<lect on the dramatic changes, potential opportunities and signi<icant challenges faced by the Métis Nation. With the e l e c t i o n o f t h e T r u d e a u government in October and its positive Métis Nation policy based on recognition of the Métis as a people and as a Nation, there has been a d r a m a t i c s h i f t i n t h e relationship between the Métis N a t i o n a n d t h e f e d e r a l government. That relationship i s u n d e r p i n n e d b y t h e commitment of the federal government to engage with the Métis Nation on a nation-­‐to-­‐
nation basis, which will of necessity engage a government-­‐
to-­‐government process based on the Métis Nation’s inherent r i gh t o f s e l f -­‐ g ove r n m e n t , recognized and af<irmed by s.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
At the December 15th meeting of the Prime Minister and a number of his ministers with <ive National Aboriginal Organizations (NAOs), I stated the Métis Nation’s position that as we move forward on the road of reconciliation, we must do so o n a g o v e r n m e n t -­‐ t o -­‐
government/nation-­‐to-­‐nation b a s i s , a s I n d i g e n o u s g o v e r n m e n t s o r representatives of Indigenous governments and not as organizations. I also made t h i s p o s i t i o n c l e a r t h e following day on an APTN panel discussion convened to discuss the meeting with the Prime Minister. In the meeting with the Prime Minister, both the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) maintained that moving f o r w a r d i n t h e n e w r e l a t i o n s h i p m u s t b e distinctions-­‐based and built around bilateral processes with the federal government. This accords with the Métis Nation’s position that we engage in a bilateral process with the federal government (and, where possible, to bring in the <ive provinces from Ontario to BC). Where multilateral meetings are needed, these should be with the MNC (which is the g o v e r n m e n t a l b o d y representing the Métis Nation), the AFN (which is the national representative of the First Nations governments) and the ITK (which is the national representative of the Inuit g o ve r n m e n t s / l a n d c l a i m s regions). These three bodies are the legitimate representatives of the three constitutionally recognized Aboriginal peoples and are part of one of the three orders of government, the other two being the federal and provincial governments. Continued on next page
Office of the President
Jan / Feb 2016
Message from the President (continued)
T h i s o f c o u r s e d o e s n o t preclude the federal and/or provincial governments from meeting with service delivery or advocacy organizations such as the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and the National Association of Friendship C e n t re s ( NA F C ) , a m o n g s t others. Otherwise, these organizations have no right to be engaged in nation-­‐to-­‐nation engagements or processes where the three orders of g o v e r n m e n t i n t h i s constitutional democracy meet to reconcile the s.35 rights of t h e I n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e s , including the implementation of the inherent right of self-­‐
government. If we are to achieve this, the leadership of the Métis Nation must take a strong stand and insist that any future meetings with the federal government or the federal government and the provinces/territories (First Ministers Conferences), or with the Premiers in the Council of the Federation (COF), must only e n g a g e I n d i g e n o u s governments or representatives of Indigenous governments r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e t h r e e constitutionally recognized Aboriginal peoples ; otherwise we will not attend. We already took this position in 2013 when former Prime Minister Harper responded to our request for a Métis Nation-­‐
Crown Summit on Economic Development by issuing a letter of invitation to a meeting on Métis Economic Priorites in which he informed us that he had also invited CAP. In our r e s p o n s e , t h e B o a r d o f Governors took the position t h a t w e w e r e w i l l i n g t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n a m e e t i n g b e t w e e n t h e f e d e r a l government and the Métis N a t i o n o n e c o n o m i c development but could not accept his invitation until this was clari<ied. This of course did not sit well with the PMO of<icials, and the meeting never did take place, but the Métis Nation’s integrity and principles were adhered to, and attested to the strength and determination of the Métis Nation leadership. We appeared to be making progress on this issue as the Canadian delegation to the Climate Change Conference in Paris in November/December only included the MNC, AFN and ITK as did the meeting of health m i n i s t e r s i n J a n u a r y i n Vancouver. H o w e v e r, l a s t w e e k t h e Assembly of First Nations and the Métis National Council t u r n e d d ow n a b re a k fa s t meeting with the Minister of the Environment as the invitation included CAP and NWAC. As we move forward, the AFN, ITK and MNC are proposing that we enter into an agreement which will make clear our intention of pursuing our respective rights based on the right of self-­‐government as one o f t h e t h r e e o r d e r s o f government in this country and that we expect to engage in government-­‐to-­‐government relations in our future dialogue with the other two orders of government. Once we conclude this protocol, there cannot, and must not, be any turning back.
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The Métis Nation will be celebrating the 200th Anniversary
of the Métis Nation infinity flag on June 19, 2016. The Métis
National Council is seeking Métis composers/musicians to
develop a Métis Nation Anthem to debut as part of these
celebrations.
The criteria for the development of the Métis Nation Anthem is as follows:
1. The composer/musician shall be a citizen of the Métis Nation;
2. The anthem must be no longer than two (2) minutes;
3. The anthem may be in English, but will later be translated to Michif
and French; and
4. The accompanying music score shall include fiddle music.
5. Deadline for submission is May 2, 2016
The successful composer/musician will be invited to be in
attendance at the 200th Anniversary celebrations on
June 19, 2016 to debut the Anthem.
$5000 will be awarded for the
Anthem that is chosen!
MÉTIS NATIONAL COUNCIL
RALLIEMENT NATIONAL DES MÉTIS
SEND YOUR COMPOSITION TO:
Métis National Council
340 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, ON K2P 0M6
Fax: 613-232-4262
email: [email protected]
Office of the President
Office of the President
Métis National Council
#4 - 340 MacLaren Street
Ottawa, ON K2P 0M6
(800) 928-6330
www.metisnation.ca
[email protected]