The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan is holding its Legislative Assembly in Saskatoon this weekend at Prairieland Park.
However, the first day of the MNLA wasn’t without controversy as a group of demonstrators gathered outside the assembly, holding signs criticizing the MN-S.
The concerns of the demonstrators go back to this past March, when 4 members of the Provincial Métis Council were suspended for alleged harassment against the CEO of the MN-S.
2 of the suspended PMC members, Sherry McLennan and Wendy Gervais, were re-elected to their regional representative positions in May’s election, however, they have still been barred from participating in their roles on Provincial Métis Council.
The continued suspensions prompted some political commentators and MN-S citizens to criticize the MN-S on social media. This then lead to the PMC approving the distribution of cease and desist letters to many voicing these criticisms. The recipients of the cease and desist letters were also informed they would not be allowed to attend this weekend’s MNLA in person.
A statement from the MN-S stated one reason for the letters were comments that questioned the Métis citizenship of the Métis Nation’s CEO. The MN-S says the CEO is a Métis citizen as defined by the MN-S citizenship registry and any comments to the contrary are false and harmful.
Kathy Pruden-Nansel was one of the 4 members of the PMC suspended in March, she was a recipient of a cease and desist letter from the MN-S, and was a participant in the demonstration.
Pruden-Nansel says she is concerned about Métis citizens being silenced.
“We’re hoping to educate citizens and to take their Métis rights back, our Section 35 rights as well as our rights as a Métis citizen, to speak freely, to question without harassment and to stop the cease and desist, locking citizens out of the governance business,” she told MBC Radio News.
In the meantime, Pruden-Nansel says she has acquired legal representation on the matter and she says her lawyers are currently drawing up a strategy on how to move forward.
According to a live feed on social media, some of the demonstrators did attempt to enter the assembly, but were informed the police would be called if they entered.
Inside the MNLA, some local presidents brought forward concerns about McLennan and Gervais not being allowed to attend. The local presidents were informed by an MN-S legal representative that McLennan and Gervais were still suspended from the PMC and therefore couldn’t participate in the assembly.
MN-S President Glen McCallum was asked by MBC Radio News about the demonstrators. McCallum didn’t comment specifically on the demonstration outside the assembly saying he wants to focus on the positives.
“I don’t worry about those things, I just concentrate more on the positive,” McCallum said. “It’s been way too long that we have been marginalized in regards to being Métis people and running a government and exercising our rights as Métis people, but more importantly structuring ourselves as a government.”
McCallum was also asked about the cease and desist letters and if he wanted to defend them from the criticism they have received.
“I don’t have to defend anything,” said McCallum. “We have rules, there is always that confidentiality part of it in regards to who does what in a government. We are in the same boat. I am not just going to say out loud what my thoughts should be, I am going to follow the system.”
In the meantime, President McCallum is hopeful the MNLA will help move forward important files for the Métis Nation specifically pointing to land claims, harvesting rights, and an MN-S treaty with the federal government.
The MNLA runs until Sunday.
(TOP PHOTO: Demonstrators gather outside the MNLA in Saskatoon. Photo by Joel Willick)