Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Nov. 7th, 2023

[Angie Crerar, Elder, Métis Nation of Alberta]

Today I am filled with gratitude and hope. I'm ready to share my story and the importance of Bill C-53 from the perspective of a proud Métis elder.

I was born in 1936 in Fort Resolution, into a loving Métis family in a small community. I was raised with a profound sense of being loved, wanted, cherished and safe in our home. My parents taught me the importance of kindness and respect for our elders. My father, a man who spoke seven languages and served as interpreter for the RCMP, really inspired me. We shared the moose and we hunted for our neighbours, which taught us the importance of generosity and community support.

My life changed forever when my mother got sick with TB in 1947. The RCMP took me away from my family and my little sisters. We were sent to Fort Resolution for residential school. It was a painful separation. My experiences at the residential school are still etched deep in my memory.

During those dark days, I held onto my father's words, “Some day, some day.” Those words became a guiding light, reminding me to remain hopeful and resilient, no matter the challenges. I always knew who I was, even though we couldn't openly speak about it. My father taught me that “some day” we would have our nation recognized, and our people would stand proud.

We are determined that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will accomplish great things, rooted in their Métis identity. Today, that “some day” is now.

Over the past three years I have witnessed our Métis people coming together, growing stronger and uniting like never before. My heart is proud as I listen to the stories of survivors and elders who have endured so much yet have emerged even stronger.

I, too, am a survivor. I'm witness to the unbreakable spirit of our people. The memories of the horrors I experienced still haunt me. Since then, I have always been afraid of being hidden away and silenced.

We have almost lost our Métis nation, but we are determined to ensure that our children thrive. The time has come for our Métis people to be recognized as the nation we have always been, as we rightfully deserve.

I live in Grande Prairie, which is a community where my healing has been supported. I am blessed with 11 children, 22 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. They are my life.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[Angie Crerar]

I will do everything in my power to ensure they have a better future.

We have come a long way from hiding. Strong leadership, especially from Audrey Poitras, has inspired us to reclaim our voices.

I want to end by telling you the importance of Bill C-53. The bill represents an opportunity to recognize the historical injustices faced by the Métis and our invaluable contribution to Canadian society. It is a chance to heal the wound of the past and build a brighter future for the Métis nation and all of Canada.

I ask for your support for this bill, to honour the resilience of our people.

My father was right when he said, “Someday, someday.” Someday is today, because you are finally ensuring that our rights are recognized and secured for generations to come. I thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you, Mrs. Crerar, for sharing your story. It's very appreciated.

We're going to go online now.

First up, I'll go to Autumn Laing-LaRose. Autumn, I missed clarifying, is with the Saskatchewan Provincial Métis Youth Council.

Welcome, Autumn. Whenever you're ready, the floor is yours for your five-minute opening statement.

[Autumn Laing-LaRose, President, Provincial Métis Youth Council, Minister of Youth, Métis Nation-Saskatchewan]

Thank you so much.

[Witness spoke in indigenous language]

[English]

Hello, everyone. Good afternoon. My name is Autumn Laing-LaRose.

I'm joining you today with profound optimism and a sense of purpose as the elected president of the Provincial Métis Youth Council and Minister of Youth for the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan.

First, I want to acknowledge the incredible strides that Métis people have made. Our unique identity has persevered through generations of attempted assimilation and colonialism.

I recently finished my teaching internship in Saskatoon. This took place in a public school that the Métis nation of Saskatchewan partnered with to provide funding and resources for Métis cultural programming and education.

Our grade 8 class hosted a weekly smudge every Monday, where the kindergarten students would come and join us. The first time I was able to participate, this brought tears to my eyes. Because of the work that my Métis government, Métis teachers and elders were doing, Métis children had access to cultural experiences in their classrooms.

Within my own mother's lifetime, children were being removed from their homes and beaten for speaking their language and practising their culture, for just simply being Métis.

The Métis nation is working hard to heal the complex harms experienced by our youth from the loss of culture, language and identity. It is uniquely able to do so because of our inherent right to self-government.

Growing up, my mother worked for a Métis local, which is a core governing body of our Métis nation here in Saskatchewan. When I turned 12, I began volunteering at the children and elders' Christmas suppers that they hosted. At 18, they hired me for my first full-time job. Now I'm 27 and I work alongside them at the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly here in Saskatchewan.

Grassroots Métis governance has played a pivotal role in sustaining our culture, language and history. It is those governing bodies that give us our direction on how we move forward as Métis Nation-Saskatchewan. We have always been here, and it is time for the federal government to do its due diligence.

As Métis citizens of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, we have the ability to vote for our elected leaders and participate in our Métis Nation Legislative Assembly at the age of 16, because we recognize the importance of Métis youth involvement. Our lived experiences, aspirations and concerns help shape the policies and initiatives that our governance structures undertake. When integrating our voices into decision-making, we are creating a more inclusive and representative Métis government that addresses the needs of all of our members.

During the spring of this year we hosted a full-day workshop for youth about UNDRIP, before hosting a two-day conference. During this workshop, youth spoke about holding Canada accountable and wanting fewer band-aid fixes and more things that get to the heart of the issues.

The passing of Bill C-53 will further affirm our inherent right to self-government and directly impact the trajectory of our Métis nation. It acts as a stepping stone towards establishing a modern treaty between the Government of Canada and the Métis nation of Saskatchewan.

A lot of the time I hear that youth are our future. They're not just our future. We are an integral part of our present. Our voices deserve to be heard and our perspectives must be considered when shaping policies that impact our collective well-being. To you this may be just another Tuesday, but for me it means pleading for a better future, one where I know that we're not just taken care of, but the wrongs have been made right.

Members of this committee have the rare ability to change my life forever. When you're wondering who this impacts, remember my face and the faces of those who have spoken to you, like Jordyn Playne and Hayden Stenlund.

My question to you is, will you listen to what Métis youth are saying, or will you give up this opportunity for reconciliation?

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you so much, Ms. Laing-LaRose, for your opening statement.

We'll jump now to Mr. Madden.

When you're ready, the floor is yours for your five-minute opening statement.

[Jason Madden, Barrister and Solicitor, As an Individual]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My name is Jason Madden, and I'm a citizen of the Métis nation and a member of a well-known Métis community in northwestern Ontario, which is a part of the Métis nation no matter what map you use.

Over the last 20 years, I've been one of the Métis lawyers who's been in the courtrooms to ensure that the promise of section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, is finally implemented. I have acted as legal counsel in Métis rights cases in Ontario and southern Manitoba. I was Mr. Goodon's legal counsel in northwest and southwest Saskatchewan and in Alberta. I've appeared in all the Supreme Court of Canada cases dealing with Métis rights.

Before I go into why Bill C-53 is such an important step for the Métis, I want to bring some facts to the committee, because last week there was a lot of misinformation put before you.

Let's be clear. No one's going to tell me, Hayden Stenlund, Jordyn Playne or other Métis that our Métis families and communities don't exist. Just because someone makes a drive-by statement that Métis communities don't exist or cannot exist without their permission doesn't make it so

Let's look at some of the historical facts from my Métis community.

If our ancestors were simply Anishinabe, there would not have been a need for a half-breed adhesion to Treaty No. 3 in 1875. It could have been an Indian adhesion. They made one with Lac Seul in 1874. Nicolas Chatelain, who signed the adhesion, was not an Anishinabe chief. If the half-breed adhesion to Treaty 3 turned half-breeds into Indians, that adhesion would say that. It does not. Read it.

In 1878, Nicolas Chatelain applied for half-breed scrip because, in his own words, Canada was breaking its promises made to the half-breeds at Fort Frances.

These are actual facts. Much of what was said last week ignored these well-documented facts and Métis history. Much of it was deeply offensive and simply untrue. I just want to say that this needs to be said for the Métis people watching this, especially the Métis youth who are watching these hearings.

Would the committee be comfortable with those remarks being made about the Québécois or other unrepresented groups in Canada? I don't think so.

While first nations have an absolute right to be consulted when their own rights and interests are adversely impacted by Crown action, the Métis have absolutely no obligation to consult or seek permission from anyone about our existence as a people and who we are. Anyone can make a broad and unfounded statement before this committee or in a commission report by consultants who aren't even historians that rejects the legal framework in Powley. That doesn't make the objection valid.

I implore the committee to read the Métis perspective section in RCAP or the Supreme Court of Canada's decision on Powley. None of this Métis history or the fight for Métis rights is “new”. After 20 years, Powley remains the only Supreme Court of Canada case to confirm the existence of a historic and contemporary Métis community with section 35 rights.

Powley is about the Sault Ste. Marie Métis community, and let's just be clear: It's in north-central Ontario, not the Red River. They didn't rely on facts from the Red River in order to ground that historic community or its existence today. This community did not magically drop from the sky. It's connected to other Métis communities that were situated along old fur trade routes and water routes.

What is new is that Canada has finally begun to recognize and deal with the Métis as it should have in the past and based on the promise of section 35. Since 1982, the Métis have had the rug pulled out from under us several times: the failed constitutional conferences in the 1980s and the rejected Métis nation accord, a part of the Charlottetown accord.

In the 1990s we began to turn to the courts, and we've been successful in much of the litigation, from Powley in 2003 to Daniels in 2016.

The Supreme Court of Canada has held that, because of government denial, Métis have been forced to live in a legal lacuna, which means a legal gap that has denied Métis existence and rights. In 2011, the Supreme Court wrote, “The constitutional amendments of 1982...signal that the time has finally come for recognition of the Métis as a unique and distinct people.”

Bill C-53 finally begins to get the Métis out of this legal gap. It's long-overdue recognition, and I also want to emphasize that much of the criticism you've heard about Bill C-53 is not what the bill says when you read it.

First, Bill C-53 recognizes the MNO, MNS and MNA only as indigenous governments, which, to be quite frank, they always have been, regardless of whether Parliament recognizes them as such. Right now, these Métis governments rely on not-for-profit corporations or societies to provide them legal status and capacity, because that's the only option that was available to them.

Bill C-53 simply recognizes the reality that these are already Métis governments. It doesn't create constitutional rights, nor does it recognize any specific Métis communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It recognizes the collectivities that mandate these Métis governments.

Secondly, Bill C-53 creates a legislative framework that future self-government treaties can sit comfortably within. I want to highlight that this isn't novel. This legislative model was used in the Yukon implementation agreement from 1994. If you ask some questions, I can point you to this schedule. At that point in time, only four treaties were ratified. Other treaties were brought in by OICs subsequently.

Bill C-53 ensures that the rug can't be pulled out from under the Métis yet again in the future and that section 35 is no longer just words without meaningful implementation. A legislative framework for future treaties is locked in. That's why it's constructed this way.

The legislation also makes it clear that multiple Métis governments represent different Métis collectivities, and each Métis rights holder gets to choose the government that represents them. These governments each have citizenship criteria that are consistent with Powley. This is set out in the self-government agreements. In addition, the registries of these Métis governments have been repeatedly reviewed and audited. Frankly, they've been reviewed more than the Indian Act registry.

To repeat the words of the Supreme Court of Canada, “The time has finally come” to recognize the Métis. Bill C-53 does just that.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you for your opening statement.

We'll get right into the questions. The first round will be six minutes for each member.

First up is Mr. Schmale.

The floor is yours.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for their testimony.

Ms. Crerar, I might start with you. Congratulations on your 11 children and I missed how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Clearly, you hate sleep.

[Voices]

Oh, oh!

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Congratulations. It's a great legacy. Thank you for your story and for sharing your life experience with us.

We want to talk about the overall concerns that have been raised by the Métis settlements and Fort McKay about this legislation on governance in general. Some concerns that have been raised talk about how, if this passes, Métis who might belong to the Métis settlements would have an opt-out clause.

I want to get your thoughts about how you see this playing out if it passes in Parliament and works through the treaty process. How do you see that playing out?

[Angie Crerar]

I don't usually listen to gossip, and there's been a lot of it. I don't get involved in that.

Jason, if you could answer that, I would appreciate it.

This is so important to us. We need to have the truth and nothing but the truth. The question you asked I cannot honestly answer. I have nothing to do with it.

[Jason Madden]

The agreements are absolutely clear. These are citizenship-based governments. Everyone who is represented by these governments mandates them to do so. If they want to be represented by a different government, unlike the Indian Act, you can actually deregister from these governments. You willingly sign up for them. That's set out in the agreements.

There is no question, then, about whether there can be other groups. You've heard from different Métis governments. There are multiple first nation governments and Inuit governments. We've been ignored for 150 years, so you can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again and expect unanimity among Métis people. We have built solid governance structures based upon our democratic will and based upon the legitimacy of these governments.

In terms of what we're asking for, the MNA is 90-plus years old. It's always been a government; it's just that Canada hasn't recognized it as such. There may be other Métis governments out there, but this is about these three Métis governments.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

I am short on time, Mr. Madden, and I do have lots of other questions, so I might cut you off. Please don't be offended if I do.

When you mentioned in your testimony about the need for consultation, you mentioned that there was really no need to do that, because it affected the governance only of these three organizations, as you just mentioned. However, in this legislation, what we're trying to work toward and trying to figure out is the piece that requires no parliamentary approval, pending a treaty. In that case, I could see the argument that the first nations are making, because if this passes as is, once this agreement is signed, the treaty is basically up to the executive branch.

[Jason Madden]

I don't think that's necessarily true, if you read what the self-government agreements say. My friends from the Manitoba Métis Federation conveniently ignored that.

Those self-government agreements say what will be within the treaty. I want to say this model was used in the Yukon. There are 14 first nations in the Yukon. At the time that implementation legislation was brought before Parliament, only four of those treaties had been signed, so there was a schedule saying, “Here are the other ones. When they get to treaties, an order in council will be passed and they'll be put into schedule II.” Look at the legislation. We replicated that in light of trying to finally create this legislative cradle, so we don't get the rug pulled out from under us at a future time.

I also want to highlight that none of the historic treaties have ever been brought before Parliament. Amendments to treaties happen all the time that don't get brought before Parliament. I think those agreements clearly set out what the treaties will include. They will be self-government treaties, and those agreements are legally binding agreements guiding the negotiations.

If additional guardrails need to be put in there, that's a discussion. However, it can't be said that this has never been done before. Treaties have been brought in by order in council in the Yukon for multiple others. I don't understand why it's so different for the Métis.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Could you clarify this for us? Should this legislation—Bill C-53—pass, what changes, aside from the part about treaty?

[Jason Madden]

I think two things change.

First, there's a recognition and affirmation. That's what the legislation does.

The second thing is this: It sets out a legislative framework for future treaties to be given legal force and effect.

In many ways, it's reverse-engineering the process, because we've seen, as I highlighted in my presentation, the rug get pulled out from under us, whether it's Charlottetown, constitutional conferences or changes in government. All of a sudden.... It's been 40 years since section 35, and the Métis have had no implementation on this. We don't want to see another 40 years slip by.

This legislation will anchor those future treaties.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

With 20 seconds, I don't have enough time to get into what I want to talk about.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you.

We'll jump over to Mr. McLeod, who's online with us. He's going to go first with his six minutes.

Mr. McLeod, the floor is yours.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the presenters today. They were very interesting presentations.

My first question is for Angie Crerar.

I want to say that my grandmother was also from Fort Resolution. That's where she was born. My parents both spoke three languages. My mother could speak five. In those days, the need to communicate with all the different tribes and people travelling around was very important. My sister went to the Fort Resolution residential school. She might have been there close to the time when you were there. It was very good to hear what you had to say, and it's very good to have you here.

I share with you the feeling that Métis need to have a brighter future. Our nations have gone through some difficult times, and it's time we started to get recognized. I belong to the Northwest Territories' Fort Providence Metis Council. We are part of the Dehcho negotiation process.

We're Métis, but we don't belong to any of the national indigenous organizations. When some of the national organizations come and say there is no enrolment process, that memberships are being given out like candy on the street, and that some of the Métis treaties are blank sheets, it's very.... I feel it when people say the Métis have no rights.

I want to know how that makes you feel, as an elder and a person who has lived their life as a Métis and fought for Métis rights.

[Angie Crerar]

Thank you so much.

Thank you for your kindness and, even better, for your honesty. That is so important to us.

In my lifetime, it has not been easy, because we were not recognized.

I'm going to tell you the truth of what happened in the residential schools. I'll never forget, and I'll always have in my heart what the nuns always said to us. They said, “I left my home. I left my country. I left my family. I left everybody and everyone to come here and teach you savages the right way of the white people.” They said this over and over. They also said, “There's no such thing as a half-breed. Nobody wants you. The Indians don't want you. The whites don't want you. Nobody wants you. You will never be anything.”

At the time, we were very young. I was eight. I didn't get out until I was 17, turning 18 in about a month. To have them say this to you, day in and day out.... I always remembered what my mom and dad taught us. They taught us love and respect. How could we treat them like that? They treated us like dirt.

Back then, as a child, we had nobody—no one. I say with my heart and my life that it was residential schools that almost destroyed us. The strength....

We remembered what our parents told us, and we were...and some days.... I always remembered those words. I was only about seven or eight. “Some day....”

He always said, “And you, do your share and don't stand by and let everybody else work for you. You are a good half-breed.”

We have helped many people. We don't talk about it. We live it. We live with respect and we have been in so much pain. If I lived to be 100, I couldn't make you understand how we felt. Do you know what it's like to have all these kids who didn't know anything, who were being ignored and who weren't even being hugged or having a kind word said to them?

We must be strong, and we were taught by our parents.

Nobody.... Even the ones in town were all scared of us, because the priests had power, and power almost destroyed us, but we're still here. Sometimes I wonder how we did that. How did we keep our faith? I can't even explain it to myself. I can't tell myself or my kids how this happened. How did I survive? I remembered the love of my mom and my dad.

We had nobody—nobody. Do you know what it's like to have nobody, to not have just one kind word or to even have someone smile at you? No.

Here I am. I'm 87 years old, and I've learned so much. My identity is very, very, very important. That saved my life and saved so many of us from the Métis residential schools.

We were totally ignored, but we knew each other. The bishop said to the government at the time, “Send me 500 Indians and 50 half-breeds, and we will teach you. We will take the Indian out of them. They will be a credit to society.”

What happened? What actually happened to the government? Did it come and check on us? Did it come to see? These thousands and thousands of children all across Canada were totally forgotten.

Our life was rough, but, you know, we helped each other. We were taught that since we were little. We pride ourselves that we made ourselves brave. No, they were not going to beat us. No, my mum and dad loved us too much. We were not going to let anybody ever beat us, and here I am. I'm still the same person, but I'm stronger than I was then, and I will be. I am a Métis. I'm very proud of who I am. I earned it.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, John Aldag]

Thank you for sharing that personal story.

Mr. McLeod, we're out of time.

We're going to go now to Mr. Garon for his time.

You have six minutes.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll start by thanking the witnesses for their testimony.

Mrs. Crerar, you're a remarkable woman, and your testimony was very touching. Thank you very much.

I'd like to ask a question and give all the witnesses a chance to respond, starting with Ms. Laing‑LaRose.

The first nations representatives who testified before our committee and were opposed to Bill C‑53 had certain concerns. I believe you're familiar with most of their arguments and have heard them.

What arguments would you put forward to allay their concerns and respond to their criticisms of Bill C‑53?

[Autumn Laing-LaRose]

Thank you very much.

I was listening earlier today and, of course, watching the other meetings on this and seeing what's happening through media. I want to commend our colonial institutions. I think they are doing a really amazing job and are working really hard to separate indigenous people.

For me, it's heartbreaking knowing that families are being torn apart over this legislation and over what's happening. In my opinion, the advancement of one indigenous nation is a positive for all. This legislation can be used for other indigenous nations in Canada and even around the world, even when you look at the similarities that we have with Australia—our history and that colonialism. I went to the UNDRIP conference in New York, and we had an opportunity to meet with youth from around the world. One of the things we were talking about was our collective experience of colonialization, and I think that this is just a part of that.

We're getting really caught up in the fact that this legislation is simply a stepping stone to negotiate treaty. Each governing body—the Métis Nation of Ontario, the Métis Nation of Alberta, the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan—will, hopefully, with the passing of this legislation, now be granted the opportunity to take part in those negotiations for treaty within their respective governments, and that's going to be done with the first nations.

In Saskatchewan, we're working hard to make sure—and we've been very clear from the get-go—that all work we are going to be doing will be done to include them, because they are family members. For a lot of people, brothers took status and sisters took their Métis nation citizenship. There are really close ties. There needs to be a lot of consultation that takes place, and the passing of this legislation simply allows that consultation to take place.