The people who own themselves" : Peuple qui s'appartient : reconnaissance de l'identité métisse au Canada : rapport du Comité sénatorial permanent des peuples autochtones

Germain, P. C., moved, seconded by the Honourable Senator MacDonald: That the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples be authorized to examine and report on the evolving legal and political recognition of the collective identity and rights of the Métis in Canada, and, in particular on, (a) the definition, enumeration, and registration of the Métis; (b) the availability and accessibility of [...] Key among these developments was the inclusion of the Métis as one of the “aboriginal peoples of Canada” in section 35 of the 1 Constitution Act, 1982. [...] Between 1815 and 1885, the Métis rose up in arms several times to resist the fur trade policies of the Hudson’s Bay Company and 5 later the land settlement policies of the Canadian government, which the Métis perceived to threaten their existence as a people. [...] The majority concluded that section 31 of the Manitoba Act “constitutes a constitutional obligation to the Métis people of Manitoba, an Aboriginal people, to provide the Métis children with allotments of land.” Section 31 created a “solemn constitutional obligation” toward the Métis that engaged the honour of the Crown and thus “required the government to act with diligence in pursuit of the fulfi [...] The events surrounding the struggles of the Red River Métis are important chapters in Canadian history, and are remembered for the significant role they had in the development of a Métis people and the 11 expansion of Canada’s Confederation.