Chartier now national president

Page 4

Clement Chartier has been involved in Metis politics for more than three decades, working at the local, provincial, federal and international levels. Now, after two terms as president of the Metis Nation -Saskatchewan (MNS), Chartier has been chosen to head up the organization he helped to form, the Metis National Council (MNC).

"I come from a small town, a Metis community in Northwest Saskatchewan," said the lawyer from Buffalo Narrows, Sask. "And of course we faced a lot of issues. And basically I just got caught up in the discussions and the debates on that."

His involvement deepened when, in 1973, he became executive director of the Native Youth Association in Ottawa, a position he held for about a year.

"After that, I never turned back," he said.

From 1979 to 1981, Chartier was president of the Canadian Indian Lawyer's Association, then was vice-president of the Association of Metis and Non-Status Indians of Saskatchewan from 1982 to 1985. In 1983, he was one of the founders of the Metis National Council and served as its first chairman.

In 1984, Chartier was elected president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. He was elected president of the MNS in 1998.

Chartier said he is quite pleased with a number of the initiatives the MNS has accomplished under his leadership, which range from infrastructure improvements to the Batoche historical site, to the Saskatchewan government's proclaiming of the Metis Act in January 2002.

Other highlights from Chartier's time as MNS president include establishing the Metis Aboriginal Title Research Initiative?X (matriX) project, under which the University of Alberta School of Native Studies is researching historical land use of the Metis people in Northwest Saskatchewan.

The research project is just one being done in support of the land claim filed by the MNS in 1994.

"It's probably self-serving, but I would say I'm quite satisfied with the progress that was made over the last six years. Not saying that nobody else could have done the same or perhaps even better. But I'm pleased with the developments," Chartier said.

His role as president also allowed Chartier to devote some of his time to Metis rights issues, and he acted as co-counsel for the intervenor MNC in both the Powley and Blais cases.

"That's always been my interest, you know, the policy side, the political side, the legal side, working nationally and internationally.

"And I'm much better at that than working at programs and services, which is not my strong point, it's not my area of interest.

"And so the Metis National Council is the ideal place for me to be if I want to continue to be involved in Metis politics. So now I believe I'll have a lot more time to be able to work on the rights agenda," Chartier said.