Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We do have our governmental bodies, our institutions that currently are capable of passing legislation, and we intend to pass legislation to deal with child and family services. We have the institution. It's simple for us to move forward and pass that kind of legislation. As we m

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I agree with that. We'll have to put in place measures to ensure that there are guardians or someone in charge of that child who will preserve that child's right to make a determination when that child reaches the ability to make that determination.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. That's a good question. We did have that in our discussions as we were co-developing this legislation. Basically, our view is that as we move forward we will be negotiating those levels of resources required for our governments to be able to handle or deal with child

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  My view is that this bill is based on the right of self-determination based on section 35, based on the inherent right of self-government. For the Métis nation, as I stated earlier, it's going to be simple. We know who our citizens are. We have our own registries. We are register

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First of all, we don't have members. We have citizens of the Métis nation who are represented by their governments. I'm the head of the national government in the same way that you have a prime minister. Our government has the same legitimacy under Canada's Constitution that the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  From the perspective of the Métis nation, it really could not have worked in any other manner. We have a national government. We have five—for your sake—provincial governments; we call them “governing members”. We have our institutions in place. We were fully engaged, at all lev

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. In fact, our homeland covers the three prairie provinces and extends into a small portion of northwestern Ontario, northeast B.C. and the Northwest Territories. In the United States, we've had national conferences, and we've had provincial consultations and regional consul

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I am shorter than expected. My dad was disappointed, but what can I say?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Chair, and good morning. Good morning to members of the committee. I'm pleased to have an opportunity, on behalf of the Métis nation, to speak to you today on this most important bill, Bill C-92. This proposed act holds the promise of a better future for our children

Canadian Heritage committee  Of course, a lot depends on the outcome of the election this year and who the people are controlling the Commons, but I think we have a process currently in place, the permanent bilateral mechanism, which I would hope will become permanent regardless of which party is in power.

Canadian Heritage committee  The need is by our people, by our nation. We have a system. We've been meeting on this for at least 25 years, and we've had some pretty good conferences. That was cut back to practically nothing during the previous administration, and we're rebuilding once again. What we see is o

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you.

Canadian Heritage committee  That particular provision is of less significance to the Métis nation, because we don't have the mass that speaks the language, and so I would see that provision being more for the Inuit, for example, who currently have translation services in many instances. The only place wher

Canadian Heritage committee  Our governments and their institutions do try to take advantage of the program that's there, but it's such a small amount. My understanding is that we were lucky to get a few thousand dollars over the past number of years until just recently. This is why there is such a need for

Canadian Heritage committee  My position, the position of the Métis nation, is that there are three national representatives of indigenous peoples and nations, and these are the three that the Prime Minister invites to first ministers conferences. We believe that we should be dealt with on a government-to-go