Editorial

Support the Just Claims of the Metis People

Following the 1869 uprising of the Metis people in what is now Manitoba, the federal government passed legislation promising to set aside 1.4 million hectares of land along the Red and Assiniboine rivers for the use of the Metis and their descendents. The land which was promised included the entire area of present-day Winnipeg, most of the land along both sides of the Red River from Lake Winnipeg to the U.S. border and both sides of the Assiniboine River as far west as Portage la Prairie, all of which has since become prime real estate. However, within a decade virtually all of that land had fallen into the hands of real estate speculators through swindles tacitly supported by the federal government or through direct government expropriation. In some cases, entire Metis villages were burned to the ground in order to clear the way for European immigrant settlements. Twenty-five years ago the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) filed a formal land claim demanding that the original promise of Metis land be honoured by the government in the form of alternate land and/or financial compensation. After two-and-a-half decades of government stalling and so-called “negotiations”, authorization has finally been given for the case to be heard in the courts. It is now expected that the case will spend several years before the courts and will end up being resolved by the Supreme Court of Canada.

This case is deeply disturbing for a number of reasons. It is clear that the federal government has no more intention of dealing honourably with the Metis people today than it had 136 years ago when it passed and immediately violated the Manitoba Act. The opening statements of the lawyers representing the federal government claimed that the government had fulfilled all of its commitments in the Manitoba Act and that the Metis people had lost their claim to the land through legal means. However, it matters little if the methods used to cheat the Metis people out of their land were “legal” or illegal. This is not a matter which should be resolved by the courts because it is primarily a political and not a legal issue. The issue is that, as every student of Canadian history knows, the spirit of the federal government’s committment to the Metis people was violated. As such, this is a political issue which demands a political solution.

The MMF has made it clear that it has no intention of demanding the relocation of the people who are now living on land which rightfully belongs to the Metis people. The MMF president stated that the Metis people have always opposed the forced relocation of populations, having been victims of such relocations far too many times themselves. Despite these assurances, the news media has been attempting to generate public opinion against the Metis land claim by repeating over and over again that the claim, if successful, would cost taxpayers billions of dollars in compensation. However, these are specious arguments which betray the Eurocentric and colonialist bias of the Canadian media.

First, it is unconscionable that a price tag should be put on justice and the rights of the people. Second, the entire issue of the “cost to taxpayers” is a red herring. Are the Metis people not part of the Canadian people? Only those who maintain that they are not could claim that there is a “cost to taxpayers”. If the Metis people are considered to be part of the Canadian people, then any compensation paid to them for past injustices amounts to a transfer of monies from the Canadian people to themselves. It is analogous to a family farm which pays members of the family for their labour; all of the money stays in the family, so it costs the family absolutely nothing. It is really a symbolic transfer which has more to do with maintaining the dignity and sense of belonging of family members than anything else. The issue of compensating the Metis people falls into the same category. All of the monies would remain in the community and would re-circulate through the Canadian economy, so there would be no real cost to the Canadian people. Rather, this would represent a gesture to the Metis people that Canada considers them equal members of the Canadian family.

Furthermore, far from representing a financial burden to Canadians, the recognition of the rights and just claims of the Metis people would actually benefit Canadian society in a number of ways. A significant section of the Metis nation has been marginalized and impoverished ever since the suppression of the 1869 and 1885 Metis rebellions. The provision of lands and money for economic development would assist these people to get out of the cycle of poverty to which they have been condemned for over a century, thereby alleviating many of the social costs, such as the extra burdens on the health care and justice systems that result from poverty and marginalization. In addition, people who are acknowledged as full members of society tend to give back more to society through their creativity and productivity. In other words, Canadian society would benefit enormously by the simple act of recognizing the rights and just claims of the Metis people and compensating them fairly for the past injustices inflicted on them by successive Canadian governments.

Only the monopoly capitalists stand to lose by the recognition of the Metis land claims. The monopoly capitalists are determined to extinguish all Aboriginal claims to the land of Canada because recognition of such claims would force them to compensate the Aboriginal people for the exploitation of the natural resources of this country. This would cut into their profit margins. By forcing the Metis people to spend many years and enormous sums of money to pursue their claims in the courts, the federal government has made it clear that it is representing the interests not of the Canadian people but of the handful of monopoly capitalists who have realized enormous profits at the expense of the Metis people.

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