Metis Community Consultation Dates Announced
Tuesday, February 08, 2005 at 15:21
A panel of Metis citizens examining the issue of Metis electoral reform in Saskatchewan will begin community consultations this Friday in La Ronge.
Friday’s meeting will be the first of 24 community consultations held across the province over the next two months.
The provincial government appointed the panel following its acceptance of the findings in the Lampard report — which found that the last Metis election was not held fairly.
Panel chair Maria Campbell says she and her colleagues won’t be trying to solve the current impasse between the MNS executive and the government, but will get advice from Metis citizens about how to hold proper elections in the future.
Campbell also says this process won’t be limited to card-carrying members of the MNS, but to all Metis living in Saskatchewan.
The panel will report its findings to the provincial government in April.
Aside from La Ronge, northern communities that will be visited by the panel include Cumberland House, Pinehouse, Beauval, Ile-a-la-Crosse, Buffalo Narrows, La Loche, Green Lake and Meadow Lake.
The panel will hold consultation meetings at the Marlboro Inn in Prince Albert on Saturday and at the Quality Inn in Saskatoon next Thursday.
Friday’s meeting in La Ronge will be held at the Kikinahk Friendship Centre, beginning at 7 pm.