Manitoba Métis leaders warn MPs against legislation recognizing Métis Nation of Ontario
'This is about the attempted theft of the identity of a nation,' Will Goodon tells committee
Proposed legislation recognizing Métis self-government in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta would set a troubling precedent, if passed, by giving cabinet the power to approve future, still-unwritten treaties with Métis associations in those provinces, Manitoba Métis leaders warned Tuesday.
They added their voice to those of First Nations leaders in Ontario who have expressed concern about Bill C-53 in testimony before the House of Commons Indigenous affairs committee in Ottawa.
"Parliament is being asked to blindly approve future, unknown, yet-to-be-written, constitutionally protected treaties without Parliament ever seeing them," Al Benoit, chief of staff and senior adviser with the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), told the MPs.
"As my father would say, that is back-asswards."
Bill C-53 would ratify self-government agreements signed in February between the federal government and the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO), the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan and the Métis Nation of Alberta. It also lays out a process for treaties with those groups to be approved.
The bill says the treaties could come into force through an order-in-council, a legal decision made by the federal cabinet and signed by the governor general that doesn't require legislation or consideration by Parliament.
The MNO's inclusion in the bill is a source of controversy, as both the MMF and Ontario First Nations reject the authenticity of six MNO communities the provincial government recognized in 2017.
Benoit was joined at the hearing by MMF housing minister Will Goodon, an outspoken critic of the MNO, who explained the objection.
"This is no longer about an individual academic or author stealing an identity. This is about the attempted theft of the identity of a nation," he said.
"We assure the committee that these 'historic Métis communities' in most of Ontario have no connection to us."
'Take MNO out'
Goodon expanded on his argument under questioning, arguing that all recognizable markers of Métis culture and nationhood — the distinctive flower beadwork, the Red River jig, the Northwest rebellion, the Métis heroes of history — have no connection to Ontario.
"Louis Riel is not their hero. He's our hero," Goodon said.
When asked how the bill could be amended, he replied, "Take MNO out."
The dispute between the MMF and the MNO is one with a long history that eventually sparked the MMF's withdrawal from the Métis National Council in 2021.
In their testimony Oct. 26, Métis leaders from Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta urged MPs to ignore the critics, hailing the bill as "reconciliation in action."
"We ask this committee to ensure that it remains focused on what the bill actually does and says, not the myths or the rhetoric — the anti-Métis rhetoric being advanced by some," MNO Margaret Froh said at the time.
Speaking after the Manitoba leaders on Tuesday, lawyer and MNO member Jason Madden said the process is designed to ensure the legislative rug isn't pulled out from under the MNO, and all its progress reversed.
He pointed several times to the Supreme Court of Canada's Powley ruling from 2003, which recognized Métis hunting rights in and around Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. — well east of the historic homeland referenced by Goodon.
Ontario First Nations leaders attack bill
The Chiefs of Ontario umbrella organization also rejects the new communities and argues they wouldn't pass the Powley test. The chiefs got their chance to speak last week.
"The recognition of these communities is baseless, non-factual and not supported by genealogical evidence," said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations in northern Ontario.
Fiddler singled out the MNO's Abitibi Inland Historic Métis Community in northeastern Ontario in Treaty 9 territory, a community he said "does not exist."
"Visit this community," he invited the politicians.
"You will not find it. It's a fictional community, simply designed to assert rights that are non-existent."
The MPs pressed the group on whether they accept the existence of Métis rights in Canada.
"Métis in Canada do have rights and do have a rich history in this country," replied Chief Scott McLeod of Nipissing First Nation west of North Bay.
"It just didn't happen in our territories."
In prior testimony, the three Métis leaders have said the bill doesn't concern land and doesn't impact anyone else.
Jason Batise, executive director of the Wabun Tribal Council in eastern Ontario, which is challenging the MNO self-government agreement in court, was asked why he rejects that interpretation.
He said the bill's title says it would give effect to treaties, not just recognize the groups' self-government rights. He said his view is that a treaty can only mean one thing — land.
"Don't tell me it doesn't. I'm not buying it," he said.
"It's right in the title and mentioned a dozen times throughout the bill: treaty, treaty, treaty."
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