Okay. I'll try to be quick here.
Basically in 2002, after years of consultation, our general assembly, which is the government of the Métis nation, did come up with criteria basically of self-identification, connection to a historic Métis community, and acceptance by the Métis nation. The Métis nation is geographically situated in western Canada. It extends a bit into Ontario, a bit into the Northwest Territories, a bit into B.C., and a bit into Montana and North Dakota.
It's a distinct people with a language known as Michif. I won't go into all of that. We have that. Basically, since last year, our registry has become permanent through federal funding from budget 2017. We have our own registry. We're registering our people.
It has become a big issue, though, because there are almost hundreds of thousands of people now who are cropping up. I should say when the term “Métis” was used historically, to us it meant the Métis nation as a proper noun, as a people, a polity. Since 1982, and particularly since victories in the courts, now people are taking that term “Métis” as an adjective to mean anybody of mixed ancestry.
This would basically include pretty well all indigenous peoples in Canada, except perhaps in the Far North. It's no longer being used as a proper noun, as a people; it's being used as an adjective. You have hundreds of thousands of people cropping up now in the Maritimes, eastern Ontario, Quebec, who are claiming to be Métis because they see some potential benefit. That is a huge issue for us. It's one that Canada is going to have to deal with at some point in time.