Ottawa signs self-government agreements with Mtis Nation in Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan

The federal Liberal government signed self-government agreements with the MtisNation of Ontario,MtisNation of Alberta andMtisNation-Saskatchewan on Thursday the first-ever such agreements withMtisgovernments.

After decades of legal wrangling and failed negotiations, these agreements are a major breakthrough for at least someMtis communities who have long demanded that their Indigenous rights including hunting and fishing rights,and the right to occupy their traditional territories be respected by Ottawa.

"It's a veryexciting day," Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said. "What we're signing today is a true acknowledgment of the Mtis Nation and the relationship we will have going forward government to government. We're here to sign not one, not two, but three historic self-government agreements and to recognize that you, the Mtis, have control over your own governance."

The agreements give the Mtis jurisdiction in core governance areas citizenship, leadership selection and government operations. The agreements also hand theseMtis nations the chance to develop their own laws and draft constitutions to govern their communities.

"Wow. I just want to say it's a great day. This is truly a historic day," said Audrey Poitras, president of theMtisNation of Alberta. "It's not an exaggeration to say the agreements signed today are something we've been fighting for for close to a century. Finally, Canada has recognized our right to self-government."

Poitras said Canadian colonization left the Mtis as "refugees in our homeland" as settlers stripped them of their traditional territories and left the original inhabitants ina "jurisdictional wasteland."

"It was a shameful chapter in the country's history," she said. "Many in theMtisNation thought this day would never come. But today Canada has formally acknowledged what we've always known to be true: the Mtis Nation in Alberta deserves self-government, and we have a right to govern ourselves."

The agreements also set outprocesses for negotiating other agreements with the federal governmentthat wouldallow theMtisin these provinces to managetheir own health care, education and child welfare systems. The Liberal government has sought to hand over jurisdiction for these social services from federal bureaucratsto Indigenous nations as part of a push for greater self-government.

The Mtisalso say self-government will help them to protect their distinctculture andlanguageMichif.

"Our Mtis citizens and communities will rise to the exciting challenge of developing a 21st-century Mtis government that is authentic, visionary, responsive and accountable that will serve our citizens and communities for generations to come," said Margaret Froh,president of theMtis Nation of Ontario.

"We are able to stand taller today because we stand on the shoulders of giants and on the cusp of a better future," said Glen McCallum, president ofMtisNation-Saskatchewan.

Past federal governments argued theMtisscrip program of the late 19th century under which some households wereissued documents like bank notes, redeemable for land or money, in exchange for land rights dispossessed theMtisof their rights and freed Ottawa of certain responsibilities.

The Mtishave said the scrip program designedto clearthem from their traditional lands to make way for commercial development and white settlement was toolegally complex, disorganized and subject torampant fraud. The scheme has been described as the "largest land swindle in North America" and left manyMtispeople landless.

In a2013 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canadafound that the federal government failed to distribute land to Mtis peoples in accordance with "the honour of theCrown." Another ruling, in 2016, found that theMtis and non-status Indians arethe responsibility of the federal government, just like First Nations with status a decision which forced Ottawa back to the negotiating table on self-government agreements.

Thursday's agreement withMtisNation in Alberta is separate from another ongoing self-government process that is under way with theMtisSettlements General Council, a group that represents eight otherMtis settlements in the province.

While the definition is subject to some debate, the federal government generally recognizes theMtis as a distinct Indigenous peoplewho can trace their roots to one of the historicMtiscommunities initially formed by people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry along the fur trade routes in Western Canada.

This definition generally excludesmixed race people of the modern era who do not share the traditions of places likethe Red River Settlement in present-day Manitoba.

CBC Politics' new weekly Canada Votes newsletter

Get analysis from our Parliamentary bureau as we count down to the federal election. Delivered to your inbox every Sunday evening then daily during the campaign. Sign up here.