Metis Senator honored with Order of Canada

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John Boucher, a highly respected Elder and distinguished senator of Saskatchewan's Metis Nation has received word that he has been accepted as a member of the Order of Canada for voluntary service to his community.

Following a long-time family interest in politics, Boucher has been working to have Metis rights recognized for 40 years, and has represented his people at both the national and provincial levels of Metis Nation governments.

"It all goes back to 1982 when the constitution of Canada was repatriated. We as Metis people knew we were a separate group from the Inuit and First Nations people, but had never been recognized as such," he said from his St. Louis home, some 30 kilometres south of Prince Albert. "We had long believed that we had been allowed certain rights as an independent nation at the time of the Northwest Conflict, drawn up in the agreement but never signed by Sir John A. MacDonald."

However, when the constitution was brought home to Canada in 1982, it was discovered that the Queen had given that agreement royal assent, regardless of the fact that MacDonald had never endorsed it. Based on their newly achieved status, the Metis seized the opportunity to request that they be allowed a seat at the table of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords. "We were denied that opportunity, so we took the federal government to court and we won," he said.

Today in the constitution there are three distinct groups recognized in Saskatchewan: the Inuit, the Indian, and the Metis. However, the federal government has yet to truly accept this recognition and address Metis issues, Boucher explained.

"It was an important first step that we gained, but the work has really just begun."

Boucher noted that the Metis Nation saw the need to address the many issues surrounding attaining Metis rights and self-government responsibly. "The people who came here to homestead, for example, were given reassurance that the land was theirs, but the Metis had never ceded it. But these people came in good faith, and worked hard for their futures, and their children's futures," he said.

"The formula has to be worked out so it does not infringe on anyone's rights, and it will be a long hard struggle to please both elements."

Boucher was instrumental in forming many of the locals that today make up the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan. "There were many of us who helped in this endeavour, I certainly didn't do it alone," he said. He was also one of many who volunteered to return often to the locals to help with their development.

While much of his work has been with the St. Louis Metis local, he has also made many contributions to the Metis National Council. Currently he is a representative on the Aboriginal Advisory Board for the RCMP.

Boucher's family has lived in the St. Louis area since 1882. "Because we've been here so long, I'm familiar with a lot of oral history and Metis culture, so I'm often called upon to speak to groups," he said. School children are an especially enraptured audience. In August he is travelling to Albuquerque, New Mexico to speak to a group wanting to know more about Metis culture, although most of his speaking engagements are more local. He has also been involved in healing and sentencing circles.

Boucher is proud of his three daughters, all married and living in the St. Louis area. "My daughter Cheryl lives on land settled by my grandfather and Dori lives on the homestead which my great-grandfather farmed, both back in 1882," he explained. His third daughter Jodi also lives on traditional Metis land. Sadly, Boucher's wife is not at his side to share the joy of his accomplishments and the Order of Canada Award as she passed away some time ago.

When told of the Order of Canada Award, Boucher couldn't believe he'd been selected to receive it. "To be recognised for something that I enjoy doing so much was somewhat overwhelming," he said. He will travel to Ottawa in 2003 to receive the award.

n the meantime, the 64-year-old is not even considering retirement. "There's still too much to do," he said.