Metis hunt for justice and rights recognition

Page 4

In the upcoming weeks and months you may be hearing a lot about the Metis, as a landmark court case known as R v. Powley was heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal, Jan. 10 to 12.

The facts in the case are clear: two Metis hunters, Steve and Roddy Powley (father and son), shot a bull moose for their winter harvest near Sault Ste Marie in October 1993. The Powleys tagged their catch with a card indicating they were Metis. With the card, they attached a note saying: "Harvesting my meat for winter." The Powleys were charged with unlawfully hunting moose and unlawful possession of moose meat.

To make a long story short, this is the third time this case is being heard before the courts. The Ontario government has previously lost the case two times and has chosen in both instances to appeal. Upon the ruling of the Ontario Court of Appeal, if the case is appealed again, it will end up in the Supreme Court of Canada. Many observers of the case speculate this is likely to happen.

What is not clear, however, is why the government of Ontario continues to appeal this case. After the second resounding loss, you would think that Ontario would stop wasting tens of thousands of taxpayers' money to keep this going in the courts. Why do they disregard the judgment and the advice of the trial judge, Justice Vaillancourt, who clearly stated that the solution to the conflict between Metis hunters and conservation officers is not to found in the courts?

The offer to negotiate has consistently been put forward by the Metis Nation of Ontario. The Ontario government has consistently refused the offer. Evidence in court has proven that the Metis pose no threat whatsoever to conservation. So one has to wonder why the government of Ontario can't see that it is in the best interests of everyone, and of conservation, to sit down with the Metis and come to an agreeable solution.

One answer to this question may lay in a long history of prejudice and racism in Ontario. And as Jean Teillet, a Metis lawyer and legal counsel for the Powleys, puts it, "Metis history, and specifically Metis history in the province of Ontario, has been put on trial."

In 1891, an Ontario government report demanded that "French half-breeds and other breeds of like fecundity and longevity" be removed from treaties. And Metis were subsequently removed. Metis ended up without a land base, a forgotten people. As both courts recognized - "an invisible entity within the general population, an invisibility caused by shame, ostracism, and prejudice."

Ontario has a history of discrimination towards the Metis. Yet, we as Metis have remained patient. We've avoided confrontation and have been silent. We've been more than fair and reasonable. We've tried to no avail to negotiate. We continue to advocate for negotiation over litigation. Yet we are harassed and denied our right to hunt and fish for food, a fundamental aspect of our way of life.

The Powley case is being watched closely by everyone across Canada with an interest in Metis rights, no doubt by other provincial governments and Metis alike outside the province of Ontario.

But it's not only the provincial governments that should have their eye on this one. The federal government as well should be preparing for the eventual outcome of the Powley case. No one wants to see a situation like last summer when they were 'caught with their pants down,' so to speak, on the ruling in R v. Marshall.

For too long the Metis have had to be pawned off between the provincial and federal governments as a "political football." Neither have had the fortitude or moral fibre to take responsibility for a just and swift resolution to the questions surrounding our issues and rights.

Frankly, both levels of government have waited too long, hoping the Metis and our issues would disappear. Soon federal and provincial governments will have no option but to come to terms with the recognition of Metis rights and come to te table wh us to set out a plan for the implementation of our rights.

Whether or not the Powley case makes it to the Supreme Court of Canada, we have already won. Our rights have been found to exist in court. This fact cannot be overturned. All that remains is that everyone must now come to grips with how to deal with it.

Christi Belcourt is a Metis artist, freelance writer and director of communications of the Metis National Council in Ottawa.