November 24, 2004

"I've been on cloud nine all day," David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, said in an interview from Ottawa.

Chartrand said Martin is the first prime minister in Canadian history to recognize the Metis as a nation, a designation he says will have important implications in future negotiations with the federal and provincial governments.

Chartrand said Martin also recognized the role Riel played in the development of Canada and the Metis nation.

But "we don't want a pardon (for Riel). That suggests he did something wrong," he said. "Riel's reputation is reviving itself and it will eventually find its proper place in Canadian history."

Chartrand said the best way to honour Riel would be for the federal government to review the history of his case and then issue a statement declaring him a vital figure in Canadian history.

Riel led a rebellion in 1869 that resulted in the creation of Manitoba the following year. After a period in exile, he returned to Saskatchewan to lead another fight for Metis rights.

He was tried and executed in Regina, but is buried in St. Boniface. Riel was considered a hero by his people and many in Quebec.

The Metis are still fighting for land in Manitoba they claim they were promised when the province joined Confederation.

Martin was vague on how Riel might be recognized, but he was clear that something would be done.

"There is a great deal of interest in our caucus to have a very tangible recognition of Louis Riel's contributions, not just to the Metis nation, but to Canada as a whole and we are very interested in proceeding on that," he said.

Martin's comments suggest the Liberals may be prepared to act on a private members' bill first introduced in 1998 by then-Grit backbenchers Reg Alcock and Denis Coderre, who are now both members of cabinet and were at yesterday's summit.

Their proposed Louis Riel Act would overturn the conviction of Louis Riel for high treason and recognize his role in Confederation and Canadian history.

In the bill's preamble, the draft act says "it is consistent with history, justice and with the recognition of the unique and important contributions of Louis Riel to Canada and to the Metis people that the conviction of Louis Riel for high treason be reversed."

Coderre, now the federal minister responsible for the Metis, said he will soon meet with the Metis leadership to discuss recognition for Riel.

"We have agreed we should address that issue together and we will do so," Coderre said.

In an opening statement at yesterday's summit, Martin said: "There is no question that we need to strengthen our relationship with the Metis nation in Canada. It is time to recognize the contributions the Metis nation has made, and continues to make, to this country."

Chartrand said federal politicians and bureaucrats have never used the term "nation" before when describing the Metis.

"It's the kind of recognition we've always wanted," he said.

Meanwhile, Martin said amendments to the Indian Act are coming as part of a plan to wind down the department, which spends more than $7 billion annually.

"The ultimate goal of everybody is to see that (dismantling Indian Affairs) happen," Martin said at the close of the day-long summit involving 70 aboriginal leaders.

"But in the interim, there may be amendments to the Indian Act to essentially get us closer and closer to our goal but that is the ultimate objective."

Martin said he sees a fundamentally different relationship between Ottawa and First Nations as the federal government works toward helping natives achieve self-governance.

"The government of Canada, in a number of areas, can negotiate directly with aboriginal peoples in certain target areas. Now will this happen tomorrow? I don't think so but it will be achieved in steps," said Martin, who has made aboriginal issues one of the priorities for his government.

Martin's comments echoed those of Phil Fontaine, the native leader from Manitoba who is national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

"This has certainly been much more than a photo op, this has been a good day and we are extremely pleased with the opportunity afforded to us today," Fontaine said.

Fontaine has long been a proponent of scrapping the Indian Act and launched a pilot project amid great fanfare in 1994 while head of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs to wind down Indian Affairs in his home province.

"We do not want to amend the Indian Act, we want to eliminate the Indian Act, we want it repealed," Fontaine said.

"We can eliminate the Indian Act and move beyond in a new era by building our capacity, our institutions and securing recognition of our jurisdiction to renew government-to-government relationships."

However, that dismantling experiment in Manitoba has done little other than run up huge bills for taxpayers. The nine-year-old Manitoba Framework Agreement has already cost $60 million and Indian Affairs Minister Andy Mitchell has admitted it has been proceeding much more slowly than he would have liked.

NDP aboriginal affairs critic Pat Martin branded Martin's meeting with the aboriginals as more about optics than concrete results.

"In what may be the most expensive pre-election photo op in Canadian history, aboriginal leaders were summoned today and treated to a whole new array of vapid Liberal platitudes; no talk of meaningful sharing of land and resources, only vague promises about who gets to deliver their woefully inadequate social programs," said Martin (Winnipeg Centre).

"Will the government admit that all it has offered aboriginal people today is the right to manage their own poverty instead of having (Indian Affairs) manage their poverty for them, and what it really wanted was a pre-election photo with aboriginal leaders providing the backdrop?"

The prime minister yesterday also promised aboriginals "a full seat at the table" in their dealings with Ottawa.

"No longer will we in Ottawa develop policies first and discuss them with you later," Martin said.

However, Martin later made clear that aboriginal attendance at meetings such as the upcoming health discussions with premiers will not be automatic and will be decided on a case-by-case basis.