Metis applaud policy shift

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Last month the Metis National Council issued a statement that council president Clement Chartier "welcomes the prime minister's commitment to end 'jurisdictional wrangling and passing the buck' when it comes to the Metis."

The statement was issued following Prime Minister Paul Martin's response to the Speech from the Throne. Martin indicated there would be a change in federal policy concerning the Metis, whose concerns have not been dealt with by previous federal administrations.

The prime minister said his government "will tackle head on the particular problems faced by the increasing number of urban Aboriginal people and by the Metis."

The Metis National Council noted a demarcation between a "Metis specific agenda" and an urban Aboriginal strategy.

Chartier said, "Our people, whether in their communities or in urban centres are looking for Metis-specific solutions, Metis-specific programs and services. The pan-Aboriginal approach does not recognize the unique needs of the Metis Nation and by speaking directly to the Metis, the prime minister understands this important distinction."

Miles Morrisseau, director of communications for the MNC, expounded on the topic on Feb. 27 but he was vague on many points when pressed to identify what the Metis National Council wants in the way of Metis-specific programs and services.

He said, "It is important for the federal government to understand that dealing with the Aboriginal people of Canada, that historically, as part of how the federal government has operated, is that when they speak Aboriginal, they're really speaking First Nations and Inuit. Their position has always been that they don't want to deal with the Metis, they don't recognize that Metis have Aboriginal rights, that there's not a responsibility to deal with the Metis Nation as there is with First Nations and Inuit.

"I think that the first breakthrough that the Metis Nation thought that they would have made on that was with the Constitutional recognition of 1982 (where it was stated) that their Aboriginal rights are recognized and affirmed."

Being written into the Canadian Constitution didn't change a thing in the lives of most Metis.

"The problem was, basically the government took the position that that was really an empty promise, that it didn't really mean anything."

The first indication this was not an empty promise came when the Supreme Court ruled "the Powleys as members of the Metis Nation had an Aboriginal right to harvest," added Morrisseau.

"From there, the question becomes "What are the other Aboriginal rights? What are the other responsibilities that the federal government has to deal with ... the Metis Nation?"

Morrisseau said that the recent Throne speech specifically alluded to Metis rights was directly attributable to the Powley court decision.

As a result of "the Supreme Court affirmation of Aboriginal rights within Powley," the Metis National Council's immediate priority is to iron out harvesting rights with the federal government, said Morrisseau.

"The Metis National Council has initiated a multilateral process that includes ... the Metis Nation of Ontario, the Manitoba Metis Federation, the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan, the Metis Nation of Alberta, and the Metis Provincial Council of British Columbia" to deal with the federal government and "the provincial governments from Ontario westward."

The first meeting of the Metis, federal and provincial representatives was Feb. 5 in Winnipeg. The next meeting was scheduled for this month, said Morrisseau.

In addition to harvesting, "certainly health is a significant issue for the Metis Nation."

Morrisseau doesn't think provincial health coverage that is available to Metis in the same way as it is to the general Canadian population deals with their health issues adequately.

"I think that you have specific problems that have to be addressed."

He said the Aboriginal peoples' survey conducted by Censs Canada pointed up these problems. "If the Metis Nation is being served so well by the current system, then why do our chronic ailments equal or surpass ... the First Nations and the Inuit?"

Morrisseau was asked if another level of bureaucracy such as the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch that serves status Indians was the answer.

"I don't think that we're there yet. I don't think that's the issue for Metis National Council ... that we want a department of Metis affairs. I don't think that's the goal."

He couldn't point to any specific health goal the Metis Nation has identified. "We're just starting to get ... some of the Metis numbers and get an idea of what are the health issues. We're trying to build something without the kind of support that we're seeing within other Aboriginal communities and we're trying to move that process forward."

Morrisseau contents that if Metis are lumped in with the general population when it comes to health conditions, "then you're going to have five times the rate of diabetes and five times the rate of heart problems and stomach ailments and arthritis" as the Canadian majority." He added that's a sign the current system is failing them, and said the council has a responsibility to try to do something about it.

The next big issue for the Metis Nation is "the land claim issue, particularly in Manitoba, resulting from the Manitoba Act and the promise in the Manitoba Act that the members of the Metis Nation in that territory would receive 1.4 million acres."

He indicated that one of the challenges within Powley was defining the Metis community in Sault Ste. Marie as part of the historic Metis Nation. Because in the Powley case the highest court in the land recognized the Powleys were part of that community and affirmed Metis Aboriginal rights, it should facilitate the Manitoba land case that is moving through the court now, Morrisseau believes.

"As issues that are going to be impacting on the Metis Nation, I tink that is certainly another important one.

"The other part of the Metis Nation agenda would be education and economic development."

Morrisseau doesn't think people should be forced to leave their traditional rural communities in order to obtain a decent standard of living. "Being part of a rural community should be an important part of the Canadian mosaic."

He notes the disparity in services between First Nations and Metis communities. While acknowledging that amenities on First Nation reserves frequently are substandard, he pointed out that reserves have schools, health centres, and educational and employment opportunities that simply don't exist in adjacent Metis communities.

The Metis National Council's Web site at www.Metisnation.ca contains the Speech from the Throne, the prime minister's speech, and Metis reaction to both.