Former Métis Nation of Alberta president testifies about dysfunction at national council
CBC
The former president of the Métis Nation of Alberta testified in Ontario court last week on how disagreement between provincial organizations began affecting operations of the Métis Nation Council (MNC).
The MNC is suing members of its former administration, alleging they conspired in a scorched earth campaign to seriously harm it and empower the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF). The MMF denies the allegations, calling the case a baseless and defamatory vendetta. MMF broke from the national council in 2021, citing a long-running Indigenous identity dispute with the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO).
Audrey Poitras, who was president of the Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) from 1996 to 2023, was questioned about the function of the MNC by its lawyer Robert Cohen of Toronto-based law firm Cassels, in Toronto's Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Poitras testified that before November 2018, MNC was guided by the board of governors (made up of the elected presidents of the five provincial Métis organizations) and the general assembly (made up of delegates from the provincial organizations.)
She said that drastically changed when then-MNC president Clément Chartier and vice-president David Chartrand started making decisions without the input of the board.
Poitras said the MNC's board stopped meeting in 2019 shortly after Chartier sent a letter to the provincial organizations saying that the MNO should no longer be allowed to participate on the board of governors. This followed a resolution made by Chartrand during a general assembly in November 2018 to suspend MNO because of a dispute over who it let in its membership registry.
Poitras said between May 2019 and September 2021 the board of governors never met.
Poitras said there was conflict within the organization over the resolution to suspend MNO, and in her view the MNC bylaws did not have the authority to remove any provincial organization.
Cohen presented several examples of correspondence in which Poitras called for the MNC president to call a board meeting to deal with the concerns about MNO.
During cross-examination defence counsel Rahool Agarwal presented correspondence from Chartier in which he called for board meetings, in April, June and November of 2020. However, MNA, MN-S, and MNO refused the requests to meet because MNO was not included.
Agarwal suggested that if MNA and MN-S would have agreed to meet during any of these opportunities they could have raised their concerns over the MNO suspension and the function of the council. Agarwal suggested that it was their refusal to work with MNC that was frustrating the function of the organization.
Poitras also said there were concerns over MNC finances starting in November 2018, when Canada conducted an audit of MNC programming.
Poitras said there were irregularities in the finances and was told some of these concerns were brought to the RCMP.
Poitras said the board was unsatisfied with the financial information Chartrand was presenting to them in 2018 in his position as MNC finance minister.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band's Woodland Wellness Centre has received funding to start a mobile addictions outreach program to address the opioid and mental health crisis.
Adriana Avelina Ruíz Márquez uses fake eyelash glue to attach a tiny transmitter to the thorax, just behind the head, of the monarch butterfly.
After several delays to the mission that will take four astronauts around the moon, NASA held a press conference today announcing that Artemis II is on track to launch as early as April 1.
Snuneymuxw First Nation is calling for a temporary closure and environmental investigation of a hazardous waste services company following a January oil spill on Duke Point near Nanaimo, B.C.
In February, five people were killed in separate avalanches across B.C. and Alberta. That same month, more than a dozen people were killed in California and Utah, including a particularly deadly avalanche that claimed the lives of nine. In Europe, from Andorra to Slovakia, the season has recorded 125 deaths from avalanches so far.
Getting a proper vehicle to transport people for urgent medical care is an ongoing challenge in fly-in First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
A new supergroup of musicians from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation have collaborated on a Robbie Robertson-inspired song they will perform at the Junos Honouring Ceremony later this month in Hamilton.
People as young as 45 should be invited to provincial and territorial programs to screen for colorectal cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society urged on Wednesday.
The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) has opened an office and retail space in Ottawa to create a stronger presence in the capital since removing itself from the Métis National Council in 2024.
Toronto resident Winhan Wong's lung cancer journey began in 2016, with a nagging cough that just wouldn't go away.
Last month, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak pointed out on social media that history was made this year because there are a record 164 female chiefs serving across the country.
Most of humanity has a great propensity to think in the short-term, but generally, long-term considerations — air pollution, deforestation and emissions, for example — just aren't our thing.