Mtis of Ontario sign agreement with Ottawa clearing path for new benefits

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett and the Mtis Nation of Ontario have signed a landmark agreement, a deal that could result in new benefits for Indigenous people of mixed heritage, pending the outcome of negotiations.

The two parties agreed Fridayto hold talksto work throughlong-standingMtisgrievances with the federal government, namely the contention that Ottawabrokeits promise to hand over land to the Mtisin exchange for ManitobajoiningCanada in 1870, a deal struck by Louis Riel.

It is hard to predict, at this early stage, what could come from a dealbut financial compensation, access to federal spending on health and education programs, theright to self-governanceandpossiblya land claimareon the table for the 86,015 Mtis living in Canada's largest province.

Leadership from the Mtis community will consult with its membership before it makes specific demands.

Mtis groups in Manitoba and Alberta have also signed similar memorandumsin the last year.

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In a statement, Bennett called it a "historic step forward in achieving lasting and meaningful reconciliation for the benefit of theMtisNation of Ontario and all Canadians."

MargaretFroh, the president of theMtisNation of Ontario, said Friday's memorandumhas been 150 years in the making, as her people have long been forgottenin the discussion around Aboriginal rights, which has principally focused on First Nations and the Inuit.

The Constitution Act, 1982 recognized the Mtis as a distinct and separate people, with rights and title, but little has been done to put those principles into practice, Froh said.

"We know thatMtis, in terms of the socioeconomic indicators, we know that we fall behind Canadians, on every single marker education, health, housing,"Frohsaid.

Mtis leaders have argued theirpeople "fall through the cracks" when it comes to health services, employment and training, and education, supports that are offered to First Nations.

"Over the last 150 years, other Indigenous Peoples have hadaccess to, for example, federal government policies, programsand services. The Mtis have been excluded, and so with this signing of the memorandum we're finally going to begin to move forward to define the relationship," she said in an interview with Rosemary Barton onPower & Politics.

'Political football'

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised during the last election campaign to more adequately address Mtisrights claims, which havebeen recognized by the Supreme Court in a number of recent decisions, including theDanielscase, which definitivelyruled thattens of thousands of Mtis and non-status Indians are the responsibility of the federal government.

Priorto that ruling, the court found,Mtisand non-status Indians were a "political football," passed between federal and provincial governments, a situation that deprived the communities of significant federal funding for programs and benefits.

The Supreme Court did not specify what particular benefits Mtisstood to gain from this status if any leaving it up to the two parties to negotiate on a nation-to-nation basis, hencethe push to more clearly enunciateMtis rights.

Both sides will also have to accept who exactly a Mtis isfor negotiation purposes, something that has been a source of contention.

The Mtis National Council has long saidthe only people who can rightfully claim to be Mtis are those who are accepted by the larger community, and can trace their ancestry to someone who lived in the "historicMtishomeland," which includes the three Prairie provinces and extends into Ontario, B.C., and the Northwest Territories.

This definition thereby excludespeople who live east of Ontario, or those who cannot trace their roots back to an ancestor descended from a mixed European and First Nations marriage, in this area, from the 1700s onwards.

Others, including the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, a group that represents Indians living off reserve, and some Mtis peoples, have said that definition is too restrictive.

"For us, it is very, very, clear and there is no confusion [who is aMtis]. I think there is the potential for others to be engaged in those kinds of queries and I'm sure it's going to be something the federal government will have to contend with,"Frohsaid.