Funding for Metis Vets Criticized

Funding for Metis Vets Criticized

Monday, November 15, 2004 at 13:58

An advocate for Metis war veterans is not impressed with a federal funding announcement last week.

Ottawa announced it was committing a total of $150,000 for various initiatives for Metis vets.

They include a monument to be built in Beauval in the veterans’ honour, a documentary video highlighting the contributions of Metis in World War II and a Metis Veterans Outreach Delivery Program.

But Earl Cook says what the veterans really want from Ottawa is an acknowledgement that the Metis didn’t receive post-war benefits given to other soldiers.

Cook says, for this reason, the funding announced last week looks like an attempt by the government to appease Metis veterans for not listening to their arguments for compensation.

Cook says the $50,000 dollars earmarked for the outreach program is well short of the $180,000 that was asked for, and will likely only cover the cost of holding two meetings of the National Metis Veterans Association.

The Metis veterans’ grievance with Ottawa is the subject of a class action lawsuit they filed two years ago.