Questions raised on future of the Metis Nation
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 22/00) - Infighting over money and who is Metis threaten the future of the Metis Nation as the umbrella organization for Metis in the Northwest Territories.
Backers of the newly-formed Northwest Metis Federation say the Nation is dead but its president insists that it is still eligible for funding.
The GNWT gave the 17 Metis Nation locals $225,000 in 2000-2001 and Bill Enge said that "as long as the Metis Nation exists they can't get that funding."
Saying the Metis Nation is dead is a way for the Federation to take core funding from the Metis Nation, said Enge, who recently took over as president of the financially-troubled organization.
"The Metis Nation - Northwest Territories, as an organization, no longer exists," said Mike Paulette, a former president and vice-president of the organization.
"It is being allowed to die," said Charles Furlong, president of the Northwest Metis Federation, an recently formed alternative to the Metis Nation
Both men say the reason for the disintegration is simple: aboriginal governments are looking after their own interests and land claims.
Future questioned
"It raises the question - why do we need the Metis Nation," Paulette said.
The Metis Nation is in financial difficulty. George Morin resigned as president in November and complained that he wasn't paid.
Paulette, a shareholder of the Metis Development Corp., said it may take the Yellowknife Metis Nation Local #66 to court to collect unpaid rent on its office space.
Enge said the problem is being fixed and money is still coming in from the Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the territorial Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.
Enge traces the organization's problems to the debate over who is Metis.
Metis at an assembly in Fort Simpson voted in September 1999 to end voting rights for Metis with Bill C-31 status. They are first-generation Metis who acquired Indian status under the Act and are eligible for treaty benefits.
"Bill C-31 Indians are allowed to participate at the local level but can't be delegates or on the board of directors," Enge said. "We do not want status Indians interfering in Metis affairs."
GNWT spokesperson Sue Enge said the fighting is an internal matter.
"That is something the Metis people will have to sort out themselves," she said.
Paulette disagrees. He said "accountability is a major priority of government and further funding to this non-existent organization will be questioned."
Call to disband
The press release that announced the federation's birth said the Metis Nation should disband by March 31, 2001, when its current government funding ends.
Enge said the money problems started when the Metis Nation was unable to pay for an audit because Bill C-31 members boycotted the process. It was then unable to take money from an account that required dual signatures. The result was financial confusion.
The North Slave Metis Alliance (NSMA) split away from the Metis Nation in 1990 and president Clem Paul hasn't looked back since.
He said the organization is an arena of name-calling and dirty tricks.
"That is why I have nothing to do with those people," he said.
The NSMA has both status and non-status Bill C-31 members.
Paul explained that when it comes to land claim negotiations, those with the status will be forced to make a choice.
"But whether I get my teeth fixed from federal or territorial funds, believe me, it all comes from the same pot," he said.
