Self-gov't on hold

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Key changes to the Metis Settlement Act protecting land transfer to Metis settlements will have to wait another year after a proposed amendment was tabled during the final days of the Alberta Legislature's spring sitting.

The draft proposal would see an amendment to the 50-year old Metis Settlements Act and the Alberta Act that would, in effect, protect land transfer to the province's eight Metis settlements.

"In general terms (this legislation) will provide the people with more certainty in the way of local administration of programs. I also think they would have more control over what happens on a daily basis. It is designed to meet the local government needs of the settlements and provide a permanent land base for the people." said a spokesman at the ST. Paul Metis Development Branch office.

The next stop is further settlement input. Meetings between the settlements and government are slated to be held in the fall. And input from local settlements and MLAs and government departments will be encouraged.

In 1982 the Federation of Metis Settlements and the Alberta government agreed to establish a joint committee to review the Metis Betterment Act under the chairmanship of Dr. Grant MacEwan. Its mandate was to act in an advisory capacity and make recommendations to the Minister of Municipal Affairs which would allow for political, social, cultural and economic development of Metis settlements.

The MacEwan Committee submitted its report and noted one of the main concerns had been the largely paternal nature of the 1938 Act. It was the committee's consensus that any proposals for a new Act should place the major responsibility for development on the settlements themselves. Major recommendations included self-government, security of land and local autonomy on the settlements.

At the 1985 First Ministers' Conference on Aboriginal Rights an agreement was reached by the Federation and Alberta recognizing Metis lands and fair and democratic principles of membership and land allocation as adopted by the Federation. The Federation acts as a governing body consisting of the chairperson of each settlement council and four elected executive members. Its mandate is to promote the advancement and betterment of the members of the settlements.

In June of 1985 then Premier Lougheed introduced a resolution concerning an amendment to the Alberta Act. That amendment confirmed the transfer of land to the settlements and protects this transfer in the Constitution. It was passed unanimously. AT that time, the legislature committed itself to endorse the commitment of the government to grant existing settlement lands to be held on behalf of the Metis people of Alberta. The 1938 Order in Council forming the eight settlements was only for a 99-year term. This legislation proposes to pass the land firmly into the settlements' control with the time limit removed.

Premier Don Getty has since committed to introduce the whole package to the House of Commons in the spring sitting. Earlier this year, the Premier stated the changes would be accomplished by the end of 1987. His remarks were re-iterated by Solicitor-General Ken Rostadt who is also the minister responsible for Native affairs and housing. At the time the proposal was tabled, he confirmed that "with good will and hard work on both sides it will be done as the Premier has said."