Louis Riel is probably turning in his grave. Despite his ultimate sacrifice to unite the Metis Nation and defend the rights of Metis People our people are more divided than ever and our hard earned rights are being squandered. How did things go so wrong?
In recent years there have been victories at the Supreme Court of Canada which should have brought in a new day for the Metis Nation and the vindication of Riel’s work and ultimate sacrifice.
First there was The Powley Decision in 2003. It was this case that established the legal right for Metis People to Harvest. It also established The Powley Test which would need to be passed for Metis people to exercise that right. The key to the test was the right to harvest was a collective right connected to a historic Metis community. I was witness to this historic date serving as Director of Communications of the Metis National Council. It was the zenith of my experience working with Metis organizations.
I know that when I sat amongst the Presidents, lawyers and other key individuals to celebrate the Powley decision the discussion was not a celebration as we feasted on steak at one of Ottawa’s finest restaurants the discussion was focussed on keeping the Council of Aboriginal Peoples out of the process. I remember feeling sick to my stomach.
A few months later the MNC would be cleaning out people who had connection to historic Metis communities including myself, Frankie Berland and my cousin Duane Morrisseau-Beck. I avoided my firing by President Clem Chartier’s girlfriend who had been put into the role of Chief of Staff. I had another job and I gave my two weeks notice at the same meeting that they were going to do the deed.
I sat in on one of my last meetings when a new hire was introducing himself with a story about how his family had always been ashamed of being Metis and that they only began to talk about being Metis in the last few years. He concluded with a statement that this was a common story with most Metis people. (In recent years this is becoming the accepted narrative.) I had no idea what this person was talking about, I grew up in two Historic Metis Communities - Grand Rapids and Crane River, MB - and everyone who was Metis was a Metis. That was it. No one was pretending to be white, unless they wanted people to laugh at them. In those days if you said your were Metis you were golden because there was absolutely no benefit to it. You were what you were.
It was though people who always identified as Metis and came from Historic Communities (Which is an essential part of the Powley Test) were being pushed out in favour of non-Native people and Metis Come Lately who declared their heritage only when there were potential rights and financial benefits. People who had no context and no reason to rock the boat.
In the months following Powley the federal government provided funding to the Metis National Council to take the message to the communities about the implications of the Supreme Court's decision. What should have been done was Metis communities should have been declaring themselves Historic Metis Communities and communities should have been selected to take the test and confirm their harvesting rights across the Metis Homeland. Instead we saw the expansion of the kind of “treadmill at the trough” negotiations and funding. The treadmill gives the illusion of advancement but the goal is to keep your head in the trough. Helping people in the communities is not as important as keeping the money flowing to that select group who travel to the big cities of the country and around the world staying in the best hotels and collecting per diem cheques, consulting fees and honorarium.
Ten years later, the Supreme Court made its ruling on the long running Metis Land Claims related to the 1.4 million acres of land promised to the Metis and their children in the Manitoba Act, which created the province of Manitoba and was entrenched in the Canadian Constitution. In the six years since that ruling in 2003 there is no evidence that any specific land claims have been launched, the fear is that the home office in Winnipeg is negotiating away our land for a lump sum settlement to keep the trough full for years to come.
Three years have no passed since the Supreme Court put down the Daniels Decision in 2016. It was almost hilarious to see Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand and Metis National Council President whoop and holler this great victory in a case launched by their declared enemy the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. Nevertheless the decision that Metis and non-Status people were included in Section 91(24) of the Canadian Constitution means that the federal government could no longer deflect responsibility for dealing with the Metis Nation on a nation to nation basis. It did not mean there was a fiduciary responsibility, a duty to consult or to negotiate land claims. It was another legal tool to work towards these goals.
Despite these significant legal victories very little has been seen at the community level. The pattern of exclusion and keeping the government sponsored gravy train going seems to be the only motivation. Despite declarations of the establishment of Metis Governments we have seem the rise of authoritarian institutions. David Chartrand, President of The Manitoba Metis Federation has not faced an election for years. No one dares to stand against him. Clem Chartier, the President of the Metis National Council is voted into power by a few dozen.
According to CBC reports earlier this year, the MNC is being audited following an investigation by the RCMP. This is the second audit of the organization in the last seven years and is about the misuse of funds. In the earlier investigation the MNC gave over half a million dollars to a company that was registered as a non-profit that helped Chinese immigrants do business in Canada. In the current investigation the CBC reports that “The complaint alleged that some federal funds transferred to the organization for Métis programs were redirected through double payments for travel, expenses and equipment and through contracts to a select group of companies and consultants.”
As such the old axiom that Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely has come into play. These men only support actions of their own device and those who speak up or stand out are exiled. I cannot speak for other communities but my home communities are beginning to fade away despite the clear decision reflected in Powley that these communities hold the key to the full recognition and expression of our Metis Rights and more importantly make up lands that should be settled with any Metis land settlement.
Today is Louis Riel Day 2019 and as our unelected and under investigation leaders stand over his grave, I wonder if they can hear him spinning.
