05) CONGRATULATIONS TO THE METIS

People's Voice Editorial

     The Supreme Court's 6-2 ruling in favour of the legal case brought by the Manitoba Métis Federation is another important milestone in the long struggle by Aboriginal peoples to achieve justice and national equality within the Canadian state.

     The court's decision comes 140 years since the shameful theft of lands which were to be provided to the Métis under the terms of the Manitoba Act. Instead, the Métis were scattered by the Canadian colonial ruling class, which seized their homeland as part of the process of settling the prairie provinces for the expansion of an emerging capitalist economy. This genocidal policy continued with the defeat of the heroic Métis and their allies at Batoche in 1885, and the subsequent generations of abysmal poverty and racist oppression.

     But the Métis never surrendered to the push for assimilation and annihilation. New resistance leaders took up the cause of Louis Riel and Gabriel Dumont, including the "Métis Patriots of the 20th Century," the communists Jim Brady and Malcolm Norris, who played key roles in rebuilding the movements of the Métis for their national rights starting in the 1930s. The Métis succeeded in achieving recognition as a distinct Aboriginal people in the Canadian Constitution, and kept raising demands to redress the historic crimes committed against their nation. The latest SCC ruling, along with the court decision in the "Daniels" case, regarding the status of some 600,000 Métis and non-status Indians across Canada, show that major legal advances can be achieved as part of a wider strategy of popular struggles. It is no coincidence that the blue and white flags of the Métis have been prominent at many powerful actions of the Idle No More movement.

     We salute the Métis on this historic victory, and we pledge our solidarity in the struggle to turn this legal ruling into meaningful gains for their social equality and national rights.

(The above article is from the March 16-31, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)