Good morning.
I live in western Canada with my husband and children. We keep horses and cattle on our farm. My children and I have our Métis status recognized by our provincial Métis nation. I'm here to provide an indigenous perspective on the meat horse industry in Canada.
Regarding remarks made in the February 13 hearing of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food, I can see that there is a staggering amount of ignorance about indigenous culture in regard to the care and respect of indigenous-owned horses.
In the past, indigenous people depended on horses for their survival. We, the Métis, used horses every day for farming, transportation and traplines, and we rode them into battle during the North-West Rebellion.
With colonization, the way indigenous people lived changed drastically. However, there remain a tradition, a culture and a connection with horses. I'm trying to keep Métis tradition, including working with horses, and pass it on to my children.
Just like most Métis, we are not in a position financially to keep horses only for recreational use. Our farm is not sustainable without the meat horse industry. Raising and owning horses involves a lot of hard work, and it's very expensive, but we think it's worth it. Selling draft foals to our exporter allows us to keep and maintain horses for farming, to feed livestock, to handle cattle, to trap, to train and to connect with Métis and first nations communities through horse trading and rallies.
Other indigenous producers are involved in chuckwagon racing, rodeo stock contracting, Indian relay, and training and marketing performance horses. As I'm sure you know, the land for Indian reserves and Métis settlements is not prime real estate or farmland, but raising horses is a way to make our land into something profitable.
The Canadian government is ignoring the impact that banning meat horse exports will have on many Métis and first nations producers. There's been no consultation with indigenous producers and people regarding the plan to ban the export of live horses. The Canadian government has a history of stepping on indigenous farmers, including through the peasant farm policy. The peasant farm policy was how the Canadian government restricted first nations farmers to basic farming tools and practices in order to limit their success, so that white settlers would not have to compete with them. Then, as punishment for the North-West Rebellion, which was started when the Canadian government annexed Métis land, indigenous producers' markets were restricted by the Canadian government, so that crippled their ability to provide for themselves.
If the federal government wanted to again shackle indigenous farmers, banning the export of meat horses would be an extremely effective way of doing that. The ability to export our horses has given our farming practices a much-needed financial boost and enabled our family to continue to embrace our Métis tradition and culture.
We think it is important that Métis and first nations producers retain autonomy in their agricultural practices and that they be able to maintain and cultivate their connection to horses. Our voices are being drowned out and suppressed by people who do not have any evidence or facts to support their claims.