Sask. Métis Nation president says national council isn't doing enough for provincial groups

The national council that represents members of the Métis Nation says a resolution signed by three provincial Métis organizations, which calls for changes to the national body, is ignoring the real issue of Métis citizenship.

The presidents of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, the Métis Nation of Alberta and the Métis Nation of Ontario met earlier this month to sign a resolution that called for more transparency from the national council. The three groups said they planned to establish a working group to discuss possible reforms to the national council or creation of a new structure.

The resolution also asks the federal government to negotiate directly with the provincial bodies on issues of self-government, rather than through the national council.

Métis Nation-Saskatchewan President Glen McCallum says the national council isn't doing enough for the provincial groups.

"What has [MNC President Clément Chartier] done to be able to engage with the five provinces?" McCallum said, referring to the five groups that are supposed to give the national council its mandate: the Métis Nations of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C, and the Manitoba Metis Federation.

"When was the last time you called a meeting to be able to have five governing bodies sit at the table and give you direction as to what you need to do?"

The national council says the presidents of the Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario groups signed the resolution without the support of their members, and that the leaders are improperly attempting to give Métis citizenship to people in Ontario.

"In their release they have completely avoided direct discussion of the real issue of Ontario citizenship," the national council said in Jan. 20 press release, which it said it was issuing "to clarify the issues and defend the descendants of the historic Métis Nation."

"The Métis Nation is a distinct Indigenous people in Western Canada. We have always determined who our citizens are," the council says.

In 2002, a policy called the Métis National Definition was adopted by national council members "to ensure the Métis Nation has objectively verifiable standards and processes to identify our citizens," the release says. 

"By not following the Métis National Definition, Ontario is, wrongfully, purporting to grant Métis Nation citizenship to people living in eastern Ontario who are not part of the Métis Nation."

McCallum, though, says the provincial resolution is not about the national definition.

"We passed a national resolution to be able to go with what we feel is right in regards to our citizenship," he said. "And that's what we follow. We haven't haven't swayed from that."