Citizenship not endorsed by MNA membership

Membership has spoken – and the message is the same. The Métis Nation of Alberta will not be amending its bylaws to replace red and white cards with Métis citizenship. In an 11-vote spread, delegates from across the province gathered in Wabasca for the annual general assembly of the MNA on Aug. 7, defeated  special resolution one to amend the bylaws. Although the vote differential was close, the bylaw needs 75 per cent approval to be changed.

“The people from the Peace River local truly supported what the provincial council had taken forward at the special assembly and they wanted to give it another try,” said MNA President Audrey Poitras.

The resolution was also defeated at the special assembly in June.

In an impassioned plea prior to the vote, Poitras stressed the importance of Métis citizenship instead of membership, noting it followed the definition of Métis which was adopted by the MNA in 2002. That definition states: “Métis means a person who self-identifies as a Métis, is distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, is of historic Métis Nation ancestry, and is accepted by the Métis Nation.”

The directive to develop a constitutionally governed nation includes a clear identification of Métis citizenship rather than membership, said Poitras.

“You can’t develop a constitution if you don’t know who your citizens are,” she said.

After the second defeat of the special resolution, a tired Poitras said she was disappointed.

“We will go back to the provincial table and make a decision,” she said.

That decision could be for the provincial council to re-introduce the special resolution or for the council to leave it up to membership to put the issue back on the floor.

The amended bylaw, said Poitras, does not mean that people with red and white cards are not Métis. It says they have not proven their lineage and until they’ve done that they do not qualify for citizenship. Métis members will still be able to access services and program, but will not be able to hold office in the association or vote.

But Dean Lindsay, a Métis residing in Kinuso and a vocal opponent to the bylaw amendments, said membership means being treated as a second-class citizen. He pointed to a recent memorandum released by the MNA stating that “based on the decision of the 2009 annual general assembly … the MNA will no longer provide legal representation to Métis  harvesters who have not … obtained a new MNA card to verify the Métis  ancestry.”

“They’re trying to segregate a nation of people,” said Lindsay.

Lindsay is in the process of gathering names on a petition to push toward grandfathering those who have membership cards as Métis citizens.

The problem with that, said Poitras, is many people who signed up as Métis in the early days were recruited by those seeking office in the association and didn’t have to prove their genealogy.

Poitras noted that the provincial council had recently been advised by the MNA judiciary council that the judiciary council had received a complaint about the membership issue and would be reviewing the situation and making a decision. Poitras said no timeframe had been offered. She said she did not know who had brought forward the complaint.

Lindsay said he was not aware of the judiciary council’s role in the membership issue.