Métis Nation of Ontario claims vindication while critics dismiss long-awaited report on communities
CBC
The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) is claiming vindication after a much-anticipated report affirmed the presence of seven Métis communities in the province. Opponents, however, are dismissing the review as "bogus," with a predetermined outcome.
Since 2021, a panel of four Métis experts has been investigating whether "new historic communities" recognized in 2017 truly belong to the Métis Nation. MNO leaders say the result was anything but preordained.
"A test was set up by some, probably hoping we would fail, and we passed the test," said Mitch Case, regional councillor for the Huron-Superior Regional Métis Community.
The Métis National Council (MNC) appointed the panel before its Saskatchewan and British Columbia members left, following Manitoba's lead, leaving MNC with just Alberta and Ontario.
The panel included Marilyn Poitras, Larry Chartrand, Shelly (Niemi) Wilton and Dylan AT Miner, appointed out of Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C. and Ontario respectively.
After reviewing 50,000 pages of paper and visiting the communities, the panel concluded the communities meet MNC's national definition for Métis citizenship.
"Thus, it is our expert opinion that these communities are integral to the Métis Nation and its Homeland," they write.
The Métis Nation–Saskatchewan and the Métis Nation B.C. rejected the findings, and so did the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), calling the probe a phony exercise full of ludicrous assertions.
"It was predetermined right from the get-go," said Will Goodon, MMF minister of identity protection and inter-Indigenous relations.
"We were absolutely correct, at the end of the day, that the MNO is pulling the strings of this panel … It's really irrelevant. But at the same time, it's a sad display of the MNO trying to stay relevant."
The Chiefs of Ontario (COO), an umbrella organization for First Nations in the province, also denounced the report as misinformation.
"This proves nothing," said Shelly Moore-Frappier, chief of Temagami First Nation in northeastern Ontario.
"This is still a report that is reliant on the colonial narrative and documents that really do not prove nationhood."
Later in the report, the panel says the attacks from other Métis leaders, some academics and Ontario chiefs "are forms of lateral violence and could be considered a form of hate speech and, possibly, cultural genocide."
