Saturday was a historic day for the Manitoba Métis Federation, as thousands of Red River Métis citizens gathered in person in Winnipeg, at satellite sites, or virtually for an Extraordinary General Meeting.
At the meeting, citizens voted unanimously to approve the Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty. Vice-President of the Northwest Métis Council, Frances Chartrand, says it was a huge step forward for the MMF.
"So to my understanding, we had over 4000 citizens there. Some of the elders were just shaking our hands and they were so grateful for the leadership, that we were able to finally move forward to sign the agreement where we could have our inherent rights back and the commitment that was made in 1870,"
The treaty solidifies the self-governance of the Red River Métis people, something that has been more than 150 years in the making says MMF President David Chartrand in a news release.
“With this vote, our treaty rights a wrong that took place 153 years ago, when our first treaty –the Manitoba Act – was negotiated and then ignored by Canada."
Saturday's meeting was the largest assembly in MMF history and followed the Red River Metis tradition to gather in Assembly when making decisions that affect the future of the Nation.
From Left: NWMC Executive Peter Fleming, NWMC VP Frances Chartrand, and NWMC Executive Richard Genaille
Frances Chartrand says their recent work across the Northwest Region shows their commitment to Red River Métis citizens and the region as a whole.
"During the pandemic, we spent 10 million dollars in the Parkland, where we were able to build three childcare centres, employ about 40 people in the Parkland area to have jobs and train them to work in the early learning childcare field. Ensuring that we have programming such as our Michif languages, our Saulteaux language, and having cultural land-based programs in each of our childcare centres."
Vice President Chartrand says all of this work was done to ensure that they were ready when the day came for the treaty to be signed.
