These are the best of times and the worst of times for the Metis Nation – Saskatchewan.
While the group, which represents about 50,000 Metis in Saskatchewan, is celebrating a Supreme Court ruling giving them status, the organization is on the verge of financial collapse.
At a weekend Provincial Metis Council meeting in Regina, President Robert Doucette said creditors are demanding money and the MN-S may be forced to sell off some of its few remaining assets.
“One of the suggestions and a motion that has been passed is to sell the archives and the library for $500,000 to the Manitoba Metis Federation to help pay down some of the debt,” he said. “So that is one of the things that is happening right now.”
The MN-S is more than $700,000 in debt after the federal government suspended $400,000 in yearly funding because the organization has failed to hold a Metis Nation Legislative Assembly meeting for almost five years.
There has been a long and bitter battle between Doucette and Vice President Gerald Morin over when to hold the assembly and where to hold it. It was planned for July, but now the two sides cannot agree on where to hold it.
Doucette wants it held centrally in Saskatoon or Prince Albert. However, Morin says it will be held in Yorkton and he is not budging.
“I really don’t understand why, when it comes to the Metis, because we disagree that all of a sudden that’s a big catastrophe,” he said. “The Metis are not a bunch of sheep and they don’t all think alike and they are not all agreeing on the same thing. What the hell? I have a mind of my own.”
Until the assembly is held, there will be no federal funding and the debt continues to grow. The MN-S is scheduled to hold its election September 3. Doucette will not be running again, saying, “I would be like a Shetland pony running in the Kentucky Derby and I’m not going to put myself through that again.”
He says he never planned to serve beyond two terms and he doesn’t much care what Morin does.
“Gerald Morin can put his name up there and run against whoever wants to run for whatever position he wants,” he said. “Once my mandate is up on September 8, I’m going to practice my royal wave and I’ve got a new title: “Mushum”, grandfather, and that’s good enough for me.”
Morin has not yet indicated if he will be running for president of the MN-S.