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Both sides in Metis governance case see judge's response as good news for future plans

Ron Quintal, the President of the Fort McKay Metis Community Association, isn’t upset about their lawsuit that was recently dismissed by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.

Ron Quintal, the President of the Fort McKay Metis Community Association, isn’t upset that his newstart organization's lawsuit to be the voice — and funding agency — for his area's members was recently dismissed by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2017, when the Metis people in Fort McKay represented under Quintal's association, felt that the Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) was silencing their right to make decisions for their community.

Across the province of Alberta, the Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA) has a governance model that includes the head executive office in Edmonton and six regional zones that include a number of individual local organizations.  The provincial society is said to represent about 40,000 of the province's identified 100,000 people who claim Metis ancestry. Up until 2017, Quintal was the president of the MNA's Metis Local 63 in Zone 1, the northeastern zone that includes locals in and around Lac La Biche County as well. He left the MNA in 2017 and said he was taking the membership with him.

“We filed this lawsuit in the first place because we saw it as the Metis Nation of Alberta impeding on our traditional territory and our right to be able to consult on our own,” Quintal told the POST last week, saying he was going into the new year with optimism after the court's in December of last year.

Although the lawsuit to be recognized independently was rejected by the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Quintal doesn’t see it as a loss. In fact, he says the Metis in Fort McKay still got exactly what they wanted. 

“So between 2017 and 2019 we went out and basically dissolved our MNA Local and terminated all of our MNA memberships,” he said. “So when the judge looked at that, he kind of saw it as there is no plaintiff. There is no real point in fighting this case because the MNA Local in Fort McKay is being dissolved. There are no MNA members in Fort McKay anymore, so fighting this isn’t really going to go anywhere.”

The MNA was established in 1928, and the intended purpose of the organization was to make sure that Metis people across Alberta had a voice. Now, in 2020, Quintal says the MNA community members are questioning if the MNA’s true intentions have changed. 

“The MNA will consult projects on your behalf and will take 15 per cen of your money that comes out of the agreements," claims Quintal. "The other 85 per cent will be controlled by the MNA in their bank account. How does that benefit communities? There are communities that are suffering on a day-to-day basis and those communities have gotten absolutely nothing back from those agreements.”

The Fort McKay Metis Association has been working for 15 years to gain autonomy for their community, so that the money they make goes directly back to their people. So far, the model that the Fort McKay Metis Association uses is working, if not thriving, says Quintal — without government or MNA intervention.

“We do everything for our community members 100 per cent in-house. We get zero from the government,” says Quintal.

The Fort McKay Metis Community Association has revenues totalling about $8 million a year, Quintal says, which goes towards infrastructure projects like housing, roads, and the community's gathering facility, the Sustainability Centre. He says there's more growth to come.

“We are building a healing lodge - it’s a centre to help people with addictions and social issues. We’ve got a new firehall coming into the community, and we’ve got a new community pavilion being built. The money also  goes to paying off mortgages, travel for medical appointments, scholarships, and recreational fees.” 

Despite the decision from the courts, Quintal believes that other Metis communities will be following suit, and he is optimistic about the future of not only his community, but others as well. 

“This is just scratching the surface with things that we are able to achieve and accomplish through our model,” says Quintal.

MNA sees it different

Political officials with the Metis Nation of Alberta don't see it the same way.

Long-serving MNA provincial President Audrey Poitras doesn't seen how Quintal can view the decision as anything but a loss. She doesn't think other communities will be following Quintal's lead

“We are very pleased with the decision of the court,” she said to her membership in a recent statement. “It affirms that the MNA continues to represent our citizens in relation to consultation with the Crown and industry in the Fort McKay area. We will continue to fight to make sure the voices of MNA citizens and communities across the province are heard through democratic governance structures, not ones controlled by a few individuals with no accountability to the Métis Nation.” 

Poitras added, “It should also now be clear that these self-styled “Métis” community associations cannot take away the rights and interests of MNA citizens or rights-bearing Métis communities throughout the province. The MNA is the government of the Métis Nation within Alberta grounded on an objectively verifiable registry of Métis Nation citizens and democratic elections."

In his decision, Court of Queens Bench Justice M. David Gates of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench said Quintal's claim “failed to meet the necessary requirements” and “the issues [raised by the MNA] are not mere weaknesses in the Local Associations' case. They are obstacles, which are plainly and obviously insurmountable."

Current MNA provincial vice-president and former vice president of the Lac La Biche headquartered Region 1 Dan Cardinal fears Metis people are being used in an attempt for some to upset the political process. 

“It is disappointing that self-styled “Métis” community associations are attempting to confuse who actually democratically represent the Métis people and the Métis Nation within Alberta. Based on this decision, we will now work to make sure the current provincial government and industry no longer allow benefits that should go to Métis citizens and communities to go to these unaccountable groups,” said Cardinal.

The population of Fort McKay, according to Statistic's Canada's 2016 survey is 742 people. The Fort McKay Metis Nation facebook page (the page users searching for Fort McKay Metis Community Office are re-directed to) has 2,700 followers.





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