by Chris Meyers Almey
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 30/97) - Yellowknife Metis Local 66 president Bill Enge said that when he took office less than a year ago, the organization was $8,500 in debt.

The territorial government is providing $16,888 of core funding for Local 66, but the Metis Nation has withheld $2,000 of that, he said.

Enge has been under attack for the way he's run Local 66. Metis activist Elaine Woodward said there should be a community hunt for bison and programs for young and old.

However, Enge said everything was a mess when he took over as president and "I've managed to keep the ship afloat ... I'm trying to do the best I can in an impossible situation."

The local had to move into cheaper office space to survive and volunteers are needed, he said.

But Woodward said Enge wasn't listening to the wishes of the membership and that's why there were 65 signatures on a petition calling for an annual general meeting to be held.

She said she was the one to zero in on for calling Tuesday's meeting to form a new Metis local.

Enge chastised Woodward for presenting the "phantom" petition to Metis Nation, going behind his back.

Woodward is from northern Alberta and not an indigenous Yellowknife Metis, Enge said.

"You come into my house, my territory, that's disrespectful. What are you doing running around in this community spearheading trouble?" Enge said during the meeting.

Woodward said a lot of Metis do not feel they are represented by Local 66.

Williams cautioned Enge about disgruntled members, saying there is a chance another local could spring up next door.

In the end, however, the meeting dispersed without any action being taken to form another Metis local.