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A P R I L 2021 ME S S E NG E R
MSGC meets with Honourable Bob Bratina, Chair of the Indigenous & Northern Affairs Committee.
Other Budget highlights important for our Metis Communities: • In addition to the near $6 Million-Dollars in direct-member-support funding MSGC has secured & transferred to the Metis Settlements since the pandemic began, the 2021 budget is set to provide Indigenous communities with an additional $1.2 billion this fiscal year to support our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. • The budget also promises to invest an additional $2.2 billion over five years to address the roots of the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Bill C-15: An Act Respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) The Federal Government plans to legislate the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as soon as legislatively possible. As a matter of summary, on November 21, 2016, the Metis Settlements General Council Assembly unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People in its entirety. This decision was highly anticipated following the tabling of NDP Private Members Bill C-262 (UNDRIP Legislation) in April 2016. Although the legislation passed with majority in the House of Commons it failed to get Senate approval before the October 2019 Federal election, a disappointment to many, Bill C-15 is another attempt to ensure it passes. In the same year of 2016, MSGC began working with Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister, Dr. Carolyn Bennett on the than newly established Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination negotiation tables. Since then, MSGC and Canada have renewed our relationship by negotiating two relationship agreements: (1) Memorandum of Understanding (2017) and (2) Framework Agreement (2018), that are foundational to our new Nation-to-National relationship. This work in-part demonstrates our shared commitment to the implementation of the UN Declaration as we embark on a shared journey towards the recognition and implementation of our Metis Rights. The work of Metis people toward the true recognition and affirmation of our basic rights as Indigenous people and the true pioneers of these lands remains undone. Although we recognize that Federal UNDRIP legislation is not a “silver-bullet” solution and will need to be accompanied by real implementation and cooperation from all levels of government. It does still offer us a real start toward true partnership with Canada, beyond provincial work, and contains two worthy goals: 1. Prevention of the type of Human Rights abuses Indigenous people have experienced and to ensure they are never repeated. 2. To implement and protect our existing rights as Indigenous People. The draft stipulates that the government of Canada must “develop and implement a National Action Plan to achieve the objectives of [UNDRIP]”, MSGC looks forward to engaging on the development of the proposed National Action Plan with Canada, which if passed, requires the Minister of Crown- Indigenous Relations to report each year on any progress made on the co-developed action plan and on aligning Canada’s laws with UNDRIP.
O u r L a n d . O u r C u l t u r e . O u r F u t u r e .
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