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Metis Alliance takes feds to court Members demand bigger role in devolution debate
Candace Thomson
Northern News Services
Published Friday, June 7, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The North Slave Metis Alliance has filed for judicial review on the federal government's decision not to consider them as aboriginal rights holders under Section 35 of the Constitution Act.
Without a declaration by the federal government that the Alliance represents a group of people holding indigenous rights, members of the Metis Alliance won't have their voices heard in regards to devolution.
The Metis Alliance argues Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister Bernard Valcourt did not make an informed decision when he told the Alliance on April 24, 2013, that they did not possess the rights in section 35, and that he glossed over what Metis Alliance president Bill Enge calls an "avalanche of material" to the contrary.
"We say he made the wrong decision," Enge said. "We are so confident in our case that we are taking it to court for a judge to review on and see what the judge has to say about the information we've provided."
Enge is concerned about the North Slave Metis not having their voices heard in devolution negotiations and will not receive part of the sums of perpetuity money aboriginal organizations involved in the devolution planning will receive.
The Alliance is calling for the minister to recognize that the Metis Alliance represents aboriginal rights holders.
The Metis Alliance further wants Valcourt to live up to a commitment Enge said he made to its members regarding devolution.
According to Enge, the minister told the Metis Alliance his stance on its involvement in the devolution negotiations would change according to the assessment of their rights-holders status by his department.
The Metis Alliance has acquired the services of Victoria law firm Devlin Gailus Barristers and Solicitors to represent its case. Earlier this week the organization provided the Crown with additional material that will be put before a judge so the Crown can review it.
This is the third lawsuit in the past year for the Metis Alliance. The first was a lawsuit filed in June 2012 against the GNWT for not giving the Metis Alliance a share of the Bathurst caribou herd. Enge said the end of this week will mark a full year that the Metis have been waiting to hear the judge's decision on that case.
The second lawsuit was against the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development for not including the Alliance in discussions regarding devolution.
Before the lawsuit could go through, the federal government did begin consultation with the Alliance but Enge said it wasn't adequate.
"We don't believe that they've provided us with sufficient time and resources for a proper consultation," said Enge. "It was all done last minute."
Enge said he is confident the Metis Alliance will come through this judicial review successfully and will receive the recognition they're looking for.
"If we had any doubts about the merits of our case we certainly wouldn't go through the court system," he said.
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