Evidence of meeting #94 for Veterans Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was nation.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
They did not get anything.
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
No. We're the only ones left.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Then today if I speak to a Métis veteran who went to war, and I speak to a first nations person or a white Canadian, the Métis is the only one who didn't get anything.
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
Métis are the only ones left. As I made reference in my comments, even the Japanese and Chinese prisoners of war in Canada got settlements. I believe $25,000 was the amount for them, and $20,000. For the Métis, there was never a settlement or an apology for neglect and the clear discrimination that took place against them. A lot of it wasn't the politicians who did that; it was the bureaucracy that did it.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
It's a sad story when you speak about the deputy minister, of course, but—
September 20th, 2018 / 4:30 p.m.
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
I'm telling you, I was still shocked, my friend. To this day, I cannot believe.... I sat there and I was in shock. I've been around politics for some time. He would not leave his chair until Albina raised her voice.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
In the outreach with Veteran Affairs, do you feel that the Métis face some challenges in receiving services, compared with others?
It all depends where you are. How is the outreach system? Are you hearing complaints about not knowing what services are available today or about not receiving services?
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
As I've said, there are very few left alive from World War II. I know some who went to Afghanistan. The son of one of my close friends went. He was lucky. He was supposed to be with the battalion that was, by mistake, killed by Americans. Somebody above decided not to take him then, because they sent him somewhere else, but that was the battalion he was with.
He's had some troubles, and his mom has been trying to figure them out. His mom doesn't blame the department too much, though, because he has psychological problems now. I don't know whether Afghanistan was the final breaking point for him. He works and then he just drops out of the world for some time until he'll call; then he goes back. Then he talks about the nightmares he has.
There is better service now for sure, no doubt.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Are there difficulties in reaching some Métis?
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
Well, they don't even bother coming. They won't come. They are too far up north; they're too far away in various remote communities. Veterans Affairs is not going to come to them. You have to go to them.
Liberal
Darrell Samson Liberal Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS
Do you have a solution? What areas are there that we don't cover but should?
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
It goes to Mr. MacGregor's question. If you look at it, if you're going to reach the veterans who are still alive and you want to deal with World War II veterans—let's use that as an example—then you have to find out how you get services to them. If they live in Pinehouse, which is way up north in Saskatchewan, how are you going to get to them? They're not going to drive all the way there. They're probably having a hell of a time surviving on their income, but to drive great distances to urban centres.... Most offices exist, or more services exist, in an urban environment; they don't exist in rural areas. You'll know, if you come from a rural area, that there are no services, and most Métis people, especially the seniors and the elders, live in villages. Of our Métis population in Winnipeg, 50% is rural and 50% is urban.
Of the veterans who are still alive today, I don't know of any.... There are just a few Korean War vets.
There is one who is a Korean veteran, and I think our country did assist him. I'm meeting with him when I get back. He's actually going to die of cancer. We're honouring him at an assembly. We're giving him a Métis nation honour and recognizing him in front of our assembly. He will be passing away with the cancer. The doctor gave him four months.
He is a Korean veteran. I've met him several times and have never really heard him complain about service. He must have been getting some services from Veterans Affairs. In general terms, however, most of our people live in rural areas; there's no way for them to access them.
Again, these are people with low education; let's understand that very clearly. Some of these people had grade 5 or 6; they were young boys when they left. They never went back to school. They were trappers. They were people who worked in the bush, and that was their lifestyle.
That's why you came looking for us, actually. You came and asked us in great numbers to join, because we're good hunters; we're good with a gun. You came to ask us to help, and we came, but nobody came back to take care of us after that.
Today I think the challenge you'll face is how to get help to people. First is to get to the level at which they understand what's happening for them. The second piece is to actually have a dialogue and get into the issue of their concerns.
Some of the veterans tell me they couldn't get optical glasses from the Veterans Affairs department, so their son bought them their glasses. It's stuff like that. I didn't do research to check out whether it's true or not, but I'm going to take what they are telling me as true.
Kevin Waugh Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
Thank you.
It's good to see you again, Mr. Chartrand.
I live in Saskatoon, south of Batoche. Métis veterans are forgotten among the veterans. I mean, you were forgotten among the forgotten. I've seen it in my province for a century.
Part of the problem—I think Mr. Samson was talking about it—is with veterans in transition from military to civilian life. Most of the first nations, not all, went back to the reserve. You scattered and were forgotten. I'm not defending it, but that was part of the issue, I think, when you look back, when they came back after 1945 from the Second World War.
Maybe your group, the Métis nation, needed to be more vocal. I think now you've done a tremendous job. You've been a leader for them, and maybe now you should be asking for these apologies. We're apologizing every three or four months in the House of Commons for something we've done. Maybe it's your time. Why don't you, on behalf of the Métis nation, demand an apology for those who are still living here today?
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
Let me put it this way. I told you my history. I've been around for a long time. I've asked apologies from two governments, Liberal and Conservative, and I've not received one yet for our veterans.
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
Trust me, I will. I'll never quit asking. I don't in any way give disrespect to any apology. I think apologies are necessary. All it takes sometimes is just an apology, and people feel that they've been heard. If our country keeps on apologizing for its historical wrongs, I commend them. I don't care what government is in place, whether it's NDP, Conservative or Liberal, if they keep on committing themselves to understand they need to deal with unfinished business. If you look at our land claims, for example, it took us 132 years of waiting and 32 years in the courtrooms. It took us that long to get justice.
It's a challenge. People didn't just scatter. I'd debate anybody, trust me, but they didn't just scatter. They went back to where their families come from. You just heard, as Bob said, how one of them walked 110 miles to join up.
Go to St. Eustache. If you ever come to Manitoba, give me a call and I'll take you to St. Eustache. St. Eustache is a small Métis village. A very large percentage of them went out of Duck Bay, where I come from. Lots of them came out of there, and Camperville. St. Eustache is one I always had great pride in. We put up our monument there. I'll share pictures if you guys want. You'll be quite impressed at how beautiful it is.
One of the things that was impressive when I used to walk into their hall—and they've had this before I was even around, back in the 1950s and 1960s—was that all the pictures of the veterans are on the wall, old pictures of all them, but all of them looking like kids when they returned. They've always honoured these veterans. In our communities it's automatic. When I was growing up, we were raised very strictly by my single mother. If a senior or an elder walked in, especially a veteran, you'd get off your chair immediately and let them sit down, and you'd serve them tea or serve them something immediately. It's just the way we were raised.
For me, as I said, apologies are sometimes, I think, necessary in this country, because for some reason we did such great injustice to the different people and to ourselves. I think we can fix that problem one day, and it will be great. I hope one day this country will apologize. Why are the Métis still not being treated with great respect as veterans? As I said, they went to battle for us with no hesitation, yet our country seems to have a challenge. Why aren't they apologizing? They could be saying, “I'm sorry; we made a big mistake. We're sorry. We thank you very much for what you did for us. We thank you for what you did for our children.”
Before they leave, at least they'd feel like they were honoured. That's what's important, I think.
As I said, there are a handful left. That's why at my assembly I'm announcing on Saturday for those living in Manitoba yet to this day.... And this is not federal money, this is my own money. I do a lot of business contracts. We made quite a bit of money on certain projects. I'm going to give each of the living veterans $20,000, the amount that the first nations got, so they will get honoured before they pass. By the time your study is done, I guarantee you most of them will be gone.
Saskatoon—Grasswood, CPC
In 2009 you went over to Juno Beach, and two years later, at Batoche with Clem Chartier, you laid a wreath, and let me say that it meant a lot in our community. I was a broadcaster back then, but I do remember that day. Batoche is a very wonderful place. It reeks with history, and it's taken us a long time in our province to appreciate it. I just thank you and Clem for laying the wreath that day.
Minister of Veteran Affairs, Métis National Council
It should be, because it is a very honourable place. People's lives on both sides were lost. At the end of the day, it shows great honour to all those. As I said in response to the question asked either by Bob or by Darrell, there are no discrepancies between our soldiers today. It's not about bloodline or colour to them. They're brothers and sisters. When they return, they maintain that mentality in their ideology. They're brothers and sisters to their last breath. It's we who seem to find a problem with the difference in ideology of how people should be and how we should treat them.
As I said, if you look at just the evidence I've given you here today—and if you want more facts, I'll give you more facts—I guarantee you it can show that the Métis are the last settled people and veterans in this country, and yet for some reason.... We made progress with Seamus. I made progress with Strahl. I made progress with Albina. I can't remember Albina's last name, and I apologize, but the issue there, at the end of the day, is I came so close each time for this country to do the right thing, and for some reason or another it failed. Either the government changed or something happened.
I hope this time that this country does the right thing for the last few left alive, and I hope the Senate backs it up and demands it be done. If that happens, the Métis nation will be very happy people.
