Ontario First Nation leaders tell resource companies not to negotiate with provincial Métis group

Ontario First Nation leaders used this week's Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference to demand that resource companies not negotiate with the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO).

They say the Métis group has no legitimate right to be consulted on projects on their lands or to benefit from such projects – an allegation the MNO rejects.

"There are no historic Métis in our territories," said Jason Batise, the executive director of the Wabun Tribal Council.

"And yet the Ontario government policy insists that we engage with them, that industry engage with them."

The Wabun Tribal Council is challenging the policy in court, he said.

The news conference was the latest chapter in a battle that has pitted the Chiefs of Ontario and the Manitoba Métis Federation against the Ontario Métis group, a battle that the latter characterizes as politically motivated.

It comes as Ontario premier Doug Ford, citing the economic threat posed by new American tariffs, has renewed his push to fast-track new resource development in the province – a move First Nation leaders have also pushed back against.

'What's next? Who else wants to be Indigenous?'

Batise said his community has found a path forward with industry but government requirements to consult the Métis makes the work of resource companies even more difficult. 

"We're talking about protecting the rights of First Nations," he said, "because if MNO can do it, what's next?  Who else wants to be Indigenous?" 

A provincial secretary with the Métis Nation of Ontario rejected allegations that the group's claims are illegitimate. 

"There's only one Métis community in the country that has been recognised by the Supreme Court as being Section 35 rights holding, and it is the Métis community in Sault Ste. Marie," said Mitch Case, the regional councillor for the Huron Superior Métis Community for the provisional council of the MNO.

"When we won the Powley case 20 some years ago – all of these people that are now criticizing the MNO – I could send you their press releases where they congratulated us and told us it was a victory for all Indigenous people."

One lawyer and former First Nation chief said she blames the provincial government for fanning the flames of the conflict because of a lack of care in identifying legitimate rights-holders. 

The government sends a form letter to project proponents with a list of Indigenous groups they need to consult, Sara Mainville said.

"Generally it's the local first nations within a certain radius," she said.

"And every single time, it's the Métis Nation of Ontario.  Every single time. … And that's just pure laziness."

Some of the conflicts also date back to a controversial 2017 decision by the government of Kathleen Wynne to recognize six historic Métis communities in Ontario that hadn't previously been recognized, she said – a decision she said was made with a lack of due diligence.

Concerns with Indigenous identity fraud

Asked during the mining conference if the Ontario government could step in and provide more guidance on industry's obligations to the Métis organization, Minister of Mines George Pirie simply said the province will continue to respect its duty to consult with Indigenous communities.

Mainville said it's important for governments to address the issue because Indigenous identity fraud is a significant problem.

She said it is also confusing to some First Nation people that some MNO members are Métis people whose ancestral ties are to communities in western Canada.

But Case, who is also the organization's provincial secretary for rights, intergovernmental relations and communications, said the MNO does not assert rights in southern Ontario, where the majority of its members who don't hold rights in Ontario reside. 

And, he said, only members who are rights-holders in a given area are entitled to benefits that derive from that area. 

The organization, Case said, uses the same system as other Métis organizations across Canada to verify the Indigeneity of its members.

That system, according to its website, is based on the 2003 Powley decision from the Supreme Court of Canada.

The court in that case laid out broad criteria for verifying Métis identity for the purpose of asserting rights: individuals have to have had a long-standing self-identity as Métis; they must provide evidence of an ancestral connection to a historic Métis community, and they must be accepted by a modern community that is a continuation of the historic community.

In 2023, the Métis Nation of Ontario passed a resolution permitting the removal of citizens who did not meet the organization's current membership requirements. 

That followed the publication of the results of its registry review in 2021, which found that 5,402 out of 23,978 membership records were incomplete, according to MNO's website.

Mainville said she understands the frustrations of the First Nation leaders who have had to fight for recognition only to find themselves sharing it with "newcomers" that may not share their protocols or priorities, she said. 

"But I also feel like we're being divided and conquered because we're not talking to each other," she added. 

"Maybe we should do some of that as well."