Province pulls funding for Métis governance

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This article was published 25/04/2019 (2501 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has rescinded a third agreement with the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF), halting hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual payments and possibly jeopardizing federal funding to the organization.

On April 11, a provincial assistant deputy minister from the Indigenous and Northern Relations department wrote to MMF president David Chartrand, saying the province was ending the Manitoba Metis Federation-Tripartite Self Government Negotiation (MMF-TSN), a deal in place since 1987.

“Significant momentum and funding now exists to further Métis self-government. The overall mandate of the MMF-TSN process has been fulfilled. As a result, Manitoba will no longer be funding MMF-TSN,” Michelle Dubik wrote.

Indigenous and Northern Relations Minister Eileen Clarke was not available for an interview Thursday. A spokesperson from her office sent a statement instead, which was near-identical to what was written in the letter to the MMF.

The MMF-TSN was an agreement between the MMF, province and federal government, in which Manitoba and Ottawa each paid $290,000 annually to fund the Métis’ own government. Chartrand said the federal funding is contingent on the province’s matching investment.

The province also provides about $268,400 in core funding to the MMF annually. Chartrand said he doesn’t believe that money will be on the table much longer, as the relationship with the province continues to deteriorate.

He alleged the province does not respect the Métis self-government.

“How does (Premier Brian Pallister) say self-government is no longer a necessity when he’s forcing me to fight in the courts to defend my rights that are enshrined and protected in the constitution of Canada and in the courts of this country?” Chartrand said in an interview.

“So on one hand, he’s saying self-government is sustained and achieved… when he doesn’t even recognize me as a government. He calls me a ‘special interest group,’” he said of past comments made by the premier.

In a separate legal battle, the MMF has sought a judicial review of how a $67.5-million agreement it was establishing with Manitoba Hydro was quashed by the provincial government. Last spring, Pallister called the deal “hush money.” The matter is still before the courts.

In October 2018, the province announced it would revoke a second deal involving the MMF and Hydro. The Turning the Page Agreement gave millions to the MMF to compensate for past and current Hydro development on Métis lands.

“There’s no relationships really left now,” Chartrand said after the province’s third strike. “This is a malicious attack against the Métis Nation, that’s what it is.”

jessica.botelho@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @_jessbu