The incumbent president of the Metis Nation – Saskatchewan is standing behind his record as he campaigns for another term in office.
Robert Doucette says he has worked hard to pay down debt at the organization, to separate business from politics and to re-establish relations with various levels of government.
Doucette says the Gabriel Dumont Institute has seen its resources jump from $10 million to $30 million in five years.
He adds finding more post-secondary funding for Metis students is a key priority for him:
“Moving forward, more needs to be done. That’s why we signed that memorandum of understanding with the province on the education task force.”
One of Doucette’s challengers says there needs to be more help given to Metis locals so they can help out their own membership.
Ray Laliberte says while municipalities have access to tax dollars, there is nothing in place for the Metis.
Laliberte adds it’s hard to fulfill community programming for grassroots people when locals are often forced to do everything themselves:
“The Metis Nation has no capacity at the local level. And when you’re prioritizing community programs, we don’t have any HR ability at the local level to be consistent.”
He says accountability and economic self-sufficiency are some of the other key priorities he is running on.
Maureen Belanger, Bryan Lee, Wayne McKenzie and Mavis Taylor are the other candidates running for MN-S president.
The vote takes place September 8th.