Métis Nation-Saskatchewan cuts ties with Métis National Council

In what could be a seismic shift in the world of Métis politics, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) has withdrawn from the Métis National Council (MNC), following the Manitoba Métis Federation in 2021.

Officials from the MN-S, which represents Métis citizens in the province, unanimously passed a resolution to secede from the 41-year-old national organization at a meeting of the provincial Métis council Thursday morning.

The withdrawal was prompted by concerns that some citizens of the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) are not Métis, and by a perception among Minnesotans that the MNC is irrelevant, Minnesota Vice-Chair Michelle LeClair told CBC Indigenous after the vote.

“We are a strong, proud nation in Saskatchewan. We have a verifiable citizenship registry and we can no longer stand by and let this continue,” LeClair said, referring to the identity controversy surrounding MNO.

Minnesota President Glen McCallum said in a press release: “This was not a decision our administration took lightly, but one we felt was necessary.”

The Métis nation emerged as a distinct people, born from the mixing of First Nations and European cultures in the historic Northwest in the 18th and 19th centuries. The existence of Métis communities in Eastern Canada is a highly contested question.

The six communities were recognized as “historic” by the MNO and the Ontario government in 2017. The federal government last year proposed recognizing the MNO, MN-S and the Métis Nation of Alberta as Indigenous governments in Bill C-53.

But First Nations leaders in Ontario deny the legitimacy of MNO communities and accuse the group of identity fraud. They waged a pressure campaign against Bill C-53. The chiefs are allied with the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF), which also cited the identity dispute when it severed ties.

The MN-S resolution passed Thursday states that the continued partnership with MNO is “no longer beneficial to the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan or the Métis Nation as a whole.” It also resolves to completely remove the MN-S’s share of finances and assets from the council.

Some may think it’s a bold move, “but it’s absolutely not,” LeClair said.

“It’s something our citizens have been talking about for a long time.”

MN-S has heard the concerns of Ontario leaders loud and clear, she added.

CBC Indigenous reached out to the Métis National Council and the Métis Nation of Ontario for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Annual General Meeting Postponed

This recent withdrawal raises questions about the future of MNC, a political organization founded in March 1983 to represent the rights and interests of the Métis during constitutional negotiations.

LeClair would not speculate on whether a new national organization could emerge or whether there is a path for MN-S to return to MNC. The MMF and MN-S were founding members of the national council.

Meanwhile, Bill C-53 is in limbo after MN-S withdrew its support earlier this year. At an earlier provincial council meeting in June, MN-S leaders passed a resolution pledging to resign from MNC if a resolution to remove MNO from national council was not passed at MNC’s annual general meeting.

That meeting was postponed until November because an expert panel that surveyed Ontario communities had not yet completed its final report, MNC President Cassidy Caron said in this month’s MNC newsletter.

Caron had previously announced that she would not stand for re-election. The vote on the new president would take place during the annual general meeting.

Caron said in her message that the MNC board has discretionary powers to appoint an existing MNC employee to ensure that MNC’s operations are not hampered in the run-up to the elections.