One of the biggest challenges—the Supreme Court of Canada has said the Métis are living in what's called a legal lacuna, i.e., a legal gap—is a lack of policy. Many of the policies you're talking about in relation to dealing with first nations land or Inuit simply don't exist within the federal system for the Métis. We don't even have a self-government policy. What have been driving policy development are the self-government agreements negotiated between Métis governments and Canada as of late, and which are being implemented. However, that lack of clear articulation of the relationship is one of the most fundamental challenges being faced.
Now, we're hoping to fill in that legal gap by virtue of legislation and implementing those self-government agreements. What's also a real, fundamental issue for the Métis, when it comes to land, is that there isn't a Métis claims policy, whereas, for better or worse, there are specific and comprehensive claims available to first nations. For the Métis, in relation to dealing with scrip, that doesn't exist.
The case Madam Poitras spoke about, the Manitoba Métis Federation case, took 32 years to get to the Supreme Court of Canada, and they were successful there. Outside of litigation, Métis have no other way to advance their land-related claims with Canada, because there are no policies right now. That legal gap needs to be addressed. We're not just complaining about policies; we don't even have any policies in order to begin the conversation on those land-related issues.