Federal Court of Appeal confirms: Métis people are "Indians"

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The Federal Court of Appeal on April 17, 2014 confirmed the 2013 Federal Court ruling for the 400,000 Métis in Canada, but distinguishes the Métis from 200,000 non-status Aboriginal people stating that non-status people who live off reserve.

The appeal court did not include non-status Indians in the decision, arguing it was a separate issue that needed to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

The appeal court’s decision in the Daniels case, if it stands, means Ottawa now has a fiduciary responsibility to the Métis who can now access federal programs and services previously exclusively offered only to status First Nations people and Inuit.

In a statement, president of the Métis National Council, Clément Chartier, said he was “very pleased” with the ruling.

"I am particularly pleased that the court clarified the Trial Judge’s
conception of the Métis to make it clear that he recognized the Métis to
be a distinct people and that his conception was not contrary to
history or the decisions of the Supreme Court in Powley, Cunningham or
Manitoba Métis Federation. The Supreme Court had basically validated
our own citizenship criteria adopted before the Powley decision based
on ancestral connection to and acceptance by historical Métis
communities."

Read the full statement from MNC's Clément Chartier: http://www.metisnation.ca/index.php/news/metis-nation-scores-massive-victory-in-daniels-decision

The original ruling from 2013:

Métis leader Harry Daniels, the plaintiff in
the case, had sought to have the court clarify whether Ottawa or the
provinces were responsible for the more than 600,000 Aboriginal peoples (
400,000 Métis and 200,000 non-status) across Canada who live
off-reserve.

This decision will redefine Aboriginal policy.

Daniels
wanted all Natives, regardless of whether they were Métis or lived on a
reserve, to be declared “Indians” according to the legal definition.
That request was granted Tuesday.

The Daniels case sought a ruling
on the Crown’s "fiduciary duty" to Métis and non-status Indians. And
the case also asked that the court agree that Métis and non-status
Indians "have the right to be consulted and negotiated with, in good
faith, by the federal government on a collective basis through
representatives of their choice, respecting all their rights, interests
and needs as Aboriginal peoples."

Those two requests were
dismissed by the court. The ruling stated, however, that fiduciary
responsibilities will flow automatically now that the status of the
groups in question has been clarified.

The federal government issued the following statement:

"We
are reviewing the court's decision to determine the next steps. As the
Federal Court stated, this decision is not about 'the interpretation or
application of particular rights either under the Constitution or under
specific agreements, nor is it about aboriginal rights,'" said a
statement from Jan O'Driscoll, a spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs
Minister John Duncan.

"Our Government continues to work in
partnership with all aboriginals across Canada to address shared
priorities such as education, economic development and jobs."

The
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and several Métis and non-status Indians
took the federal government to court in 1999 alleging discrimination
because they were not considered "Indians" under a section of the
Constitution Act.

They argued they are entitled to some or all of
the same rights and benefits as First Nations peoples living on
reserves, including access to the same health, education and other
benefits Ottawa gives status Indians, such as being able to hunt, trap,
fish and gather on public land.