04) METIS NATIONAL COUNCIL “DISAPPOINTED” BY TRC REPORT

    In a June 2 statement, the Metis National Council said the report released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) “fails to address the need for the government of Canada to deal with the survivors of Métis residential schools.”

    “Other than a few of the recommendations that include Métis in proposed actions, we are treated as an afterthought”, said Métis National Council President Clément Chartier. “Little thought was given or advice provided to deal with the exclusion of Métis residential schools from federal settlements agreements.”

    The TRC report comes at a time when the Métis Nation and the government of Canada are beginning discussions on a reconciliation process to support the exercise of Métis section 35(1) rights and to reconcile their interests.

    “The horrific experiences of Métis survivors of these excluded schools will not be forgotten as we pursue self-determination and self-government through reconciliation” said Chartier. “The Métis residential schools represent the most glaring moral and legal failure of the former Liberal government and the current Harper government to do justice in our time with Métis people.”

    The MNC also pointed out that “the Canadian media has become part of the cone of silence surrounding the exclusion of Métis residential schools from the reconciliation ceremonies and recommendations in Ottawa over the past four days.”

    The media has ignored the plight of the Métis who attended residential or boarding schools where similar abuses were inflicted upon Métis children by religious orders operating under the sanction of the Canadian State. CBC-TV did reach out to the MNC seeking an interview, only to cancel on the morning of the TRC release.

    “It’s extremely disappointing that the Canadian media would totally ignore the two press statements issued by the Métis Nation... even more so APTN which was approached by MNC communications as well as being sent the press release directly,” stated President Chartier, a former student of the Ile a la Crosse boarding school in northwest Saskatchewan where former students suffered the same form of abuse as those attending Indian residential schools.

    “For the Métis Nation and the former Métis residential schools students to be treated in such a shameless manner where our voices are not heard does not bode well for reconciliation between the Métis Nation and the rest of Canada” stated Chartier.

(The above article is from the June 16-30, 2015, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist 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.)