12) METIS LAND CASE GOES TO SUPREME COURT OF CANADA

     An historic court case is examining a 140-year dispute between the federal government and Manitoba's Métis, who believe promises made to Louis Riel were never fulfilled. The case goes back to 1869‑70, when John A. Macdonald's Conservative government promised land for 7,000 Métis children from the Red River Settlement, which was led by Riel.

     The land deal was part of the Manitoba Act of 1870, which was the agreement that ended the Red River Rebellion and paved the way for Manitoba to enter into Confederation.

     "The argument is that Ottawa failed altogether to fulfill the constitutional obligations to the Métis it assumed in 1870 when Canada and the Métis negotiated the entry of Manitoba into Confederation," states the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF).

     The Métis are not seeking damages, but are instead asking the Supreme Court to "declare that Canada failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to the Métis and their children." Such a declaration would likely lead to land‑claim negotiations.

     "This case represents the unfinished business of Confederation. The Métis' strong sense of community shaped the west. Now is the time to tell the Métis story," David Chartrand, president of the MMF, said in a statement.

     Tom Berger, the aboriginal rights lawyer who will represent the MMF, said the case represents an opportunity to correct a historic wrong.

     "It's important for us to get right with our history," Berger told the Canadian Press. "We have to remember our history and we have to remember that the Métis didn't go away. They're still here."

     The Métis, who first launched their lawsuit 30 years ago, argue that Macdonald's government assumed responsibility to appropriate 1.4 million acres of farmland, and then distribute it to the 7,000 children living at the settlement. That distribution was delayed for more than a decade and about 1,000 of the children never received any land. In many cases the land that was eventually handed out was chosen by lottery, and was often far from their traditional family land along the Red or Assiniboine Rivers.

     Meantime, non‑Métis settlers were lured by the promise of free land for homesteaders, and the Metis were marginalized. As many as half the Métis population actually left Manitoba as a result, the MMF suggests.

     "A lot of our people went into hiding," Chartrand said. "Some of them, if they were white enough and spoke French, they said they were French‑Canadian so they could protect their children."

     According to a Métis legal team which spent two years doing archival research, statements by Macdonald and his Quebec lieutenant George‑Etienne Cartier prove their claim is legitimate.

     On May 2, 1870, Macdonald told the House of Commons that the grant was "for purposes of settlement by their children." Two days later, he reiterated that "No land would be reserved for the benefit of white speculators, the land being only given for the actual purpose of settlement."

     A year after that, Cartier said "Until the children came of age the government were the guardians of the land, and no speculators would be suffered to get hold of it."

     That sentiment was echoed by the government of Alexander Mackenzie, who succeeded Mackenzie.

     The Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the case after the MMF lost its bid in provincial court, as well as a subsequent attempt in the Manitoba Court of Appeal.

(The above article is from the February 1-14, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)