MNS holds first meeting in two years
- Fraser Needham | January 18, 2015
About 50 people gathered in Saskatoon this weekend for the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan’s first official meeting in almost two years.
The meeting was organized after a judge ordered the MNS to hold a provincial council meeting by January 23.
Two sides within the organization have been able to agree on little over the past few years including when meetings should be held.
On one side is President Robert Doucette and on the other Vice-President Gerald Morin and a group of area directors.
Part of the discussion at the meeting focused on who are and who are not elected officials within the organization.
Morin says there is a difference of opinion as to who actually is elected to certain positions on council.
“Given the politics within the organization, there’s not always a consensus around the facts,” he says. “No one disagrees with the whole notion that a youth representative has to be elected by Métis youth in Saskatchewan. We all support that principle but as a matter of fact whether that happened in this case is a matter of controversy amongst our leaders.”
Doucette says the organization needs to change and some elements within have been resistant to that.
“I think what your seeing is an evolution,” he says. “An evolution of the organization and there is resistance to changing the organization by individuals who have been around just as long as I have. But the people through all of those assemblies said that they want change and that’s why there’s in-fighting.”
The MNS President has tried to make the organization’s constitution more centralized.
The MNS also discussed financial matters and looked at setting a date for the next legislative assembly.
The organization’s federal funding has been cut since November for failure to hold an assembly over the last two years.
Doucette’s term as president does not expire until the fall of 2016 but he says he is open to an early election if the organization determines this is the best way to move forward.
“Who knows, maybe when we go to a Métis Nation legislative assembly, somebody will make a motion to have an early election,” he says. “And you know what, I’m okay with that.”
However, Morin says while he is not necessarily opposed to an early election, the MNS needs to be fully financially accountable and transparent first so voters have a clear picture of what is going on before heading to the polls.
“When people go to the polls, people have to know the state of affairs of the Métis Nation Saskatchewan,” he says.
Doucette says he will not be seeking another term as president.
The two-day meeting was held at the Travelodge.
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