Manitoba Mtis leaders warn MPs against legislation recognizing Mtis Nation of Ontario

Proposed legislation recognizing Mtis self-government in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta would set a troubling precedent, if passed, by giving cabinet the power to approve future, still-unwritten treaties with Mtis associations in those provinces, Manitoba Mtis leaders warned Tuesday.

They added their voice to those of First Nations leaders in Ontario who have expressed concern about Bill C-53in testimony before the House of Commons Indigenous affairs committee in Ottawa.

"Parliament is being asked to blindly approve future, unknown, yet-to-be-written, constitutionally protected treaties without Parliament ever seeing them," Al Benoit, chief of staff and senior adviser with the Manitoba Mtis Federation (MMF), told the MPs.

"As my father would say, that is back-asswards."

Bill C-53 would ratify self-government agreements signed in February betweenthe federal governmentandthe Mtis Nation of Ontario (MNO), the Mtis NationSaskatchewanand the Mtis Nation of Alberta. It also lays out a process for treaties with those groups to be approved.

The bill says the treaties could come into force through an order-in-council, a legal decision made by the federal cabinet and signed by the governor general that doesn't require legislation or consideration by Parliament.

The MNO's inclusion in the bill is a source of controversy, as both the MMF and Ontario First Nations reject the authenticity of six MNO communities the provincial government recognizedin 2017.

Benoit was joined at the hearing by MMF housing minister Will Goodon, an outspoken critic of the MNO, who explained the objection.

"This is no longer about an individual academic or author stealing an identity. This is about the attempted theft of the identity of a nation," he said.

"We assure the committee that these 'historic Mtis communities' in most of Ontario have no connection to us."

'Take MNO out'

Goodon expanded on his argument under questioning, arguing that all recognizable markers of Mtis culture and nationhood the distinctive flower beadwork, the Red River jig,the Northwest rebellion, the Mtis heroes of history have no connection to Ontario.

"Louis Riel is not their hero. He's our hero," Goodon said.

When asked how the bill could be amended, he replied,"Take MNO out."

The dispute between the MMF and the MNO is one with a long history that eventually sparked the MMF's withdrawal from the Mtis National Council in 2021.

In their testimony Oct. 26, Mtis leaders from Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta urged MPs to ignore the critics, hailing the bill as "reconciliation in action."

"We ask this committee to ensure that it remains focused on what the bill actually does and says, not the myths or the rhetoric the anti-Mtis rhetoric being advanced by some," MNO Margaret Froh said at the time.

Speaking after the Manitoba leaders on Tuesday, lawyer and MNO member Jason Madden said the process is designed to ensure the legislative rug isn't pulled out from under the MNO, and all its progress reversed.

He pointed several times to the Supreme Court of Canada's Powley ruling from 2003, which recognized Mtis hunting rights in and around Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. well east of the historic homeland referenced by Goodon.

OntarioFirst Nations leaders attack bill

The Chiefs of Ontario umbrella organization also rejects the new communities and arguesthey wouldn't pass the Powley test. The chiefs got their chance to speak last week.

"The recognition of these communities is baseless, non-factual and not supported by genealogical evidence," said Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents49 First Nations in northern Ontario.

WATCH | Alvin Fiddler speaks against Bill C-53

NAN Grand Chief lays out First Nations objections to Bill C-53

11 months ago

Duration 5:28

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler was one of several Ontario chiefs to speak to MPs about First Nations objections to proposed federal legislation that would recognize the internal self-government rights of three Mtis groups. The First Nations say the legislation threatens their inherent and Treaty rights and legitimizes communities that have no historic basis in Ontario.

Fiddler singled out the MNO's Abitibi Inland Historic Mtis Communityin northeastern Ontario in Treaty 9 territory, a community he said "does not exist."

"Visit this community," he invited the politicians.

"You will not find it. It's a fictional community, simply designed to assert rights that are non-existent."

The MPs pressed the group on whether they accept the existence of Mtis rights in Canada.

"Mtis in Canada do have rights and do have a rich history in this country," replied Chief Scott McLeod of Nipissing First Nation west of North Bay.

"It just didn't happen in our territories."

In prior testimony, the three Mtis leaders have saidthe bill doesn't concern land and doesn't impact anyone else.

Jason Batise, executive director of the Wabun Tribal Council in eastern Ontario, which is challenging the MNO self-government agreement in court, was asked why he rejects that interpretation.

He said the bill's title says it would give effect to treaties, not just recognize the groups' self-government rights. He said his view is that a treaty can only mean one thing land.

"Don't tell me it doesn't. I'm not buying it," he said.

"It's right in the title and mentioned a dozen times throughout the bill: treaty, treaty, treaty."