MNS gets no money from national council

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The delegation from the Metis Nation-Saskatchewan (MNS) that attended the 20th general assembly of the Metis National Council (MNC) in Calgary March 19 and 20 was looking for financial and moral support from the national organization. They received the latter, but on two separate occasions the provincial organization's call for financial assistance from the MNC was rejected.

In one resolution the MNS tried to get financial support from the national organization for its post-Powley work plan. (The Supreme Court of Canada Powley decision recognized the right of Metis to hunt and fish.) This funding would replace money suspended by the federal government after Saskatchewan froze provincial funding to the MNS. The funding freeze came after a provincial government probe found that the MNS election of its current slate of leaders was fraught with irregularities.

The resolution was defeated with delegates from Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia Metis organizations voting against it. Ontario, as a block, abstained from voting.

As a lead up to the resolution, Day one of the assembly saw MNS President Dwayne Roth asking for time from the assembly to address the election concerns levied by Saskatchewan. Roth assured the delegates the accusations against MNS are groundless. Roth said the allegation that voters' lists were padded with the names of dead and out-of-province voters was untrue. He asked for the support and understanding of the assembly in this time of trouble for the MNS leadership. Roth was not in attendance on Day two when the resolution for financial support for the MNS was presented.

Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) President David Chartrand said the assembly did not vote against financial help for Saskatchewan based on a lack of support for the leaders. The assembly's problems came with the wording of the resolution, which he described as confusing, and the fact that the resolution was amended too often for it to be passed. Chartrand did say, however, that the MNS was asking for money the MNC does not have.

The second resolution from the MNS also caused considerable debate on the assembly floor. It called for a meeting between MNC President Clem Chartier, MNS President Dwayne Roth and the Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians, Minister Andy Scott.

The resolution was designed to reinstate a working relationship between the government of Canada and the MNS, but it called for the MNC to allocate $30,000 to the MNS to initiate a judicial review against the government of Saskatchewan over its refusal to recognize the election and the decision to withhold provincial funding.

That resolution was passed unanimously, but only after the request for funding was removed.

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