Op-ed: Worn out government and bad Constitution the real problem for MN-S
- John Lagimodiere | April 02, 2015
The end of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan as we know it
After three years of infighting and recalcitrance, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan has finally rolled over and died, never to be seen in the same form ever again.
It is amazing but not unexpected how far the MN-S has fallen. Since the election in 2012, the organization has gone from having millions in programming and staffing to nothing.
Nothing. Shut doors, staff laid off, court cases and no real plan in sight on how to get the MN-S back on track.
Since 2012, the MN-S has struggled with having Provincial Métis Council (PMC) meetings, deciding who actually is on the PMC, and actually doing the work of the PMC and holding regularly scheduled Métis Nation Legislative Assemblies.
The refusal to host MNLAs in the last two years has led to the MN-S being in default of their funding arrangements with the federal government and losing the over $400,000 in annual funding effective March 31, 2015. The federal government has said it will restore funding once an MNLA is held, but that is a smoke screen because the governance problems are much deeper than not holding an MNLA.
The governance and Constitution are entirely broken and need to be rebuilt. Here is why.
One Provincial Court judge, upon ruling an MNLA that was called by the people under the Métis Act of Saskatchewan was illegal, set the table for the handcuffs by which the MN-S is now restrained. He reiterated that the MN-S must follow its Constitution in calling legislative assemblies and, one would assume, following the Constitution in rules for running MNLAs. Here is where we run into trouble.
According to the Constitution, we need seventy-five (75) members of the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly to constitute a quorum of the MNLA. Now, according to a Deloitte review of the governance of the Nation, a mere 30 or so Locals of the 130 formerly active political units (who make up the majority of the MNLA voters) actually fit the criteria in the Constitution to qualify as voters at an MNLA.
Several Locals only exist on paper and haven’t done the proper paperwork, meetings or reporting to maintain status as a Local under the non-profit act and the MN-S Constitution.
So, the key question is: who gets to attend the MNLA and register a vote? As it stands they could not make quorum. No quorum, no meeting, no funding.
Secondly, who are we? There has been concern over membership and the registry since 1998 and earlier. We had three elections in a row in which there were voting irregularities, culminating in 10 people being charged with election fraud after the 2005 election.
The MN-S lost its funding for two years after that. Bad registries make for bad elections and Local membership lists still had dead people on them as well as some folks who came out of the woodwork when the Grumbo decision in 1998 gave Métis hunting rights on par with First Nations. Some Locals were selling memberships ... others weren’t using a consistent definition.
The organization came back from the dead but still failed to address the electoral and governance issues in the Constitution.
The Powley Decision of 2003 was a game changer though. The Supreme Court agreed that Métis have the right to hunt, all be it in a defined area tied to their historic Métis community. This newly won right put the impetus on the Métis Nation Council and its affiliate nations to come up with a strong definition and to begin a proper registry so that people could exercise that hunting right.
That registry has been going for almost five years in Saskatchewan but only about 7,000 people have registered out of potentially 100,000 Métis people in this territory. The process is just and fair to get citizenship, but it is slow and some people are pushing back on having to get the card and do the work to get it. But it is also absolutely necessary.
We need to define ourselves and this is the best process out there. Besides, say the MN-S collapses ... will there be three splinter groups that pop up and purport to be THE voice of the Métis of Saskatchewan? Who gets a say? Who gets to vote? Will the same old, same old rise from the ashes because no one cares anymore? Would the government even fund that?
It is difficult to overstate the importance of these issues. It’s imperative that these fundamental procedures and criteria be clarified and the appropriate action taken.
Tough decisions ahead for the Métis community but as dire as it may seem, the MN-S fortunately did some good things in its day and infrastructure is in place to fix the situation and see new leaders emerge.
Make the Gabriel Dumont Institute home to the registry. The affiliates are all very strong and are providing excellent services to Métis across the province. Several Locals are flourishing. Our unemployment rate is almost the same as the Saskatchewan average and there are lots of frustrated and educated young folk between 25 and 40 years old out there that are ready to step up and lead, but not in this current political structure or climate.
This all goes beyond politics. It’s about the future of a proud Nation. It’s about ensuring the next generation and the generations to follow have better access to health, education and prosperity and the protection and enhancement of their constitutionally protected rights.
So maybe it was a good thing that it has come to this. Maybe it’s supposed to happen this way.
Read how the MN-S got to where it is now.
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