Who will negotiate the terms of the hunt?

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The president of one of two Métis organizations in Ontario is adamant that his organization should be representing the province's Métis in the upcoming hunting negotiation process.

"I'd like to make it very clear that there is only one Métis-specific representative of the Métis people in the province of Ontario, and that's the MNO," said Tony Belcourt; ". . . the Métis Nation of Ontario is the only one that provided all the financing for Steve Powley. We're the only one that's been fighting for Métis rights and writing constantly to the government." The MNO is a member of the Métis National Council (MNC).

Belcourt said if the government doesn't sit down for talks in a "reasonable" amount of time, MNO will "go back to the court, because obviously the government will be, in our opinion, in contempt of court. . . . We would certainly seek damages."

The Ontario Métis Aboriginal Association's (OMAA) president Michael McGuire and first vice president Henry Wetelainen also talked to Windspeaker about their agenda for defending Métis rights and their right to represent Ontario's Métis citizens. McGuire said of the Powley hunting win in the appeal court, "OMAA and its communities have been waiting for these negotiations for well over 30 years."

Their organization claims 40,000 membership. They also challenge MNO's assertion that it represents the Métis of Ontario as fully as Belcourt says.

Lawyer Jean Teillet doesn't think it matters if the Métis are all in agreement when they negotiate harvesting rights with the government. "That doesn't mean (the government) can't recognize and affirm their rights," she said.

"My hope," said Teillet, "is that (the government will) negotiate with the provincial bodies and not try to piece off community by community."

If the government had been ordered to consult with all the First Nations in Ontario that would have involved about 19 organizations, she added.