SASKATOON – A Saskatchewan Metis leader says a ruling today from the Supreme Court of Canada is a message to federal and provincial governments that Metis people are not a political football.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that constitutional obligations were not met during the federal government’s handling of a 19th-century land deal with Manitoba’s Metis.
Robert Doucette, president of the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan, says the ruling shows the federal government has an obligation to sit down with the Metis and bargain in good faith.
Get daily National news
Doucette says the decision will be discussed at a meeting with Metis leaders at a legislative assembly, which may be held next month.
Today’s decision is a victory for the The Manitoba Metis Federation, which argued for years in lower courts that Ottawa failed to set aside vast tracts of land for children of the Metis.
Government lawyers argued that the lawsuit was filed far too long after the deal and that Ottawa did not actually violate its side of the agreement.
The ruling could potentially open the door to land-claim negotiations.
Comments