Laliberte Says Roth Felt Pressure To Resign
Friday, May 05, 2006 at 15:24
A member of the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan executive believes political pressure may have played a role in the resignation of MNS president Dwayne Roth yesterday.
Roth cited financial reasons for his decision, noting he hadn’t been paid ever since government funding to the group was frozen.
But MNS treasurer Ray Laliberte thinks the pressure being applied to both the Metis National Council and the MNS Senate also played a part.
Laliberte says he recalls Roth mentioning last fall that the burden was starting to become overwhelming. Roth has said he offered to resign last fall in negotiations with the provincial government.
Laliberte says stepping away was the right decision, noting it’s difficult to lead any group without a clear mandate.
As for who takes over, Laliberte says precedent has been set at the MNS to have the vice-president assume the presidency — which in this case, would be Guy Bouvier.
Laliberte says he has full confidence in Bouvier’s leadership ability, but says the final decision will be left to the Provincial Metis Council.
The PMC is expected to meet within the next week to discuss the situation.
Meanwhile, the man initially declared president of the MNS in the 2004 election says he is not particularly encouraged by Roth’s resignation.
Robert Doucette says Roth’s departure is interesting, but adds many of Roth’s supporters are firmly entrenched in the organization and Doucette doesn’t see why they can’t all step down.
Doucette adds a new election won’t mean much unless it is run independently.
Meantime, Metis Relations Minister Maynard Sonntag says the resignation of Roth does little or nothing to affect present matters.
He notes he wasn’t talking to the disputed leader anyway, and he doesn’t plan on opening official channels with the MNS since he doesn’t recognize the 2004 MNS election.
Sonntag also says an election must be held before core funding is returned, but feels it might be premature to talk about a fall MNS election.
Sonntag says if that were to happen, a general assembly would have to be called relatively soon.
He also notes the creation of a Metis voter registry will take considerable effort.