Tony Belcourt's Blogs

40% MAY BE REMOVED FROM MNO REGISTRY Say NO to Resolutions 1, 2 & 3 The MNO has just issued a  Backgrounder to Proposed Special Resolutions #1-3.   The PCMNO has directed the Registry to assess MNO citizenship files based on unauthorized criteria and then issue new cards to only those who meet those new requirements. “Files that are determined to meet the current requirements for MNO citizenship, including, an identification of whether these individuals ancestrally connect to one of the  identified seven historic Métis communities in Ontario or the Métis Nation in western Canada (i.e., through Métis scrip, land grants, etc.) will be issued a new MNO citizenship card (emphasis added)” The MNO Backgrounder reports that only 60.5% of the files are “complete” according to the above requirements.  Unless those whose files are incomplete can find documentation to meet the above-unauthorized criteria, those citizens will not be issued new MNO ci...

MNO PROPOSED SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS # 1, #2 AND #3 SHOULD BE DEFEATED By Tony Belcourt, Founding President, Métis Nation of Ontario The MNO has put forward to the 2018 AGA, three “Proposed Special Resolutions” regarding    MNO Citizenship (Proposed Special Resolution #1, Proposed Special Resolution #2, Proposed Special Resolution #3).    They should be defeated because they introduce a concept that is not present in the MNO Bylaws or its Registry Policy or Guidelines.    In fact, they are contrary to them and if passed may very well be a violation of them. Proposed Special Resolution #1 is titled:  Special Resolution on Verifying All MNO Citizens Are  Métis Rights-Holders and Meet Current MNO Citizenship Requirements (emphasis added) Proposed Special Resolution #1 is based on the  Registry and Self-Government Readiness Process passed by the PCMNO at its meeting on October 20-22, 2017.    That motion states: ...

NATION VS. PEOPLES With all of the fixation lately on legalizing about who can be a citizen of the Metis Nation, have we lost sight of what it is to be a “Metis community”?  Can we no longer see the forest for the trees? Nation vs. Peoples: There can be a real difference between these two terms.  Canada’s  Constitution Act, 1982  refers to the rights of Aboriginal “peoples”.  Because it is up to the courts to interpret the Constitution, in the Powley case the courts determined who  may enjoy a Metis constitutional right to hunt and fish for food. The courts set out a “test” as to how it would accept that a Metis community would have that right. But that decision should not in any way bind a Nation in determining who may be its citizens.  The right to determine who belongs is for the people to decide. If we are truly a Métis Nation, then we should not be bound our swayed by the courts’ interpretation of who may enjoy a constitutional ...