Métis National Council president tells MPs self-government bill must pass
CBC
The Canadian government must fulfil its long-standing promise of self-government for the Métis Nation by passing Bill C-53, the president of the Métis National Council told members of Parliament Thursday.
"Simply put, it's time," Cassidy Caron said in prepared remarks before the House of Commons Indigenous affairs committee in Ottawa.
Caron described that promise as 40 years in the making and flowing from failed constitutional talks, Supreme Court of Canada decisions, royal commissions and more.
"Your processes have repeatedly led to the same recommendations calling for the full recognition of Métis rights," Caron said.
"Métis self-government is not new. What is new is that Canada is finally taking action on what it has long promised."
Bill C-53 would recognize the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO), Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) and Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) as Indigenous governments, while laying out a path to approve still-unwritten treaties with them.
The committee is now nearly a month into its study of the proposed legislation that has revealed many of the flashpoint issues in contemporary Métis politics.
The bill has drawn concerns from First Nations in Ontario and some Métis communities.
As president of the national council that advocates for the three provincial associations named in the bill, as well as the Métis Nation B.C., Caron got her chance to refute the criticism on Thursday.
"There has been, unfortunately, a lot of misinformation that has been shared throughout this committee process," she said.
Caron said the bill doesn't concern land, adding that the self-government agreements the bill would ratify expressly state the agreements don't infringe on other groups, whether First Nations or Métis, as some fear.
Ontario First Nations reject the bill because of the inclusion of the MNO, which has previously faced concerns about the integrity of its citizenship registry. At issue are six new MNO communities the Ontario government recognized as historic in 2017.
Caron said the groups' Métis citizenship registries are objectively verifiable, subject to audits and cross-referenced with the Indian Act status rolls to confirm potential Métis citizens aren't registered with First Nations.
"As an Indigenous nation, we have a right to determine who our citizens are," Caron said.
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