Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) – The Manitoba of Appeal ruled against the MMF legal challenge to the Pallister Government’s March 21, 2018 decision to stop Manitoba Hydro from honouring a July 2017 Agreement made between Manitoba Hydro and the MMF, which was negotiated bilaterally under a framework put in place through the Kwaysh-kin-na-mihk la paazh Agreement (in English, the Turning the Page Agreement or TPA). The TPA is a historic agreement signed between the MMF, Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro in 2014 that set out a new way forward to finally address Métis rights and the impacts of Manitoba Hydro’s projects on Métis lands and way of life.
The July 2017 Agreement dealt with several specific Manitoba Hydro projects and would have provided $67.5 million in compensation for the infringement of Métis rights, as well as other accommodation measures. In March 2017, nine of 10 members of the Manitoba Hydro board of directors resigned after Premier Pallister repeatedly refused to meet with the leadership of Manitoba Hydro to discuss important issues.
While the MBCA overturned the lower-court decision issued by Chief Justice Joyal, who had concluded that the honour of the Crown did not apply to the TPA or the July 2017 Agreement, the appeal court went on to conclude that Manitoba’s actions in March 2017 did not breach the honour of the Crown, even though Manitoba did not follow the terms of the dispute resolution process in the TPA.
“If the honour of the Crown doesn’t even require governments to honour the processes it agreed to in negotiated agreements with Indigenous peoples, it’s just hollow words then,” said MMF President David Chartrand.
President Chartrand added, “At the very least, the honour of the Crown must require governments to follow the processes it commits to with Indigenous people. Manitoba didn’t do this and the MBCA has turned a blind eye to Manitoba’s duplicity. This is why we will be seeking leave to appeal on this case to the Supreme Court of Canada.”
President Chartrand also warned other Indigenous peoples and companies in Manitoba with agreements with any of Manitoba’s Crown corporations that if this can happen to the MMF, the Pallister Government can now reach in and cancel other agreements at any time. The highest court in Manitoba has now made independent Manitoba Crown corporations vulnerable to unilateral action by the Pallister Government and future governments based on its interpretation of the directive power in the The Crown Corporations Governance and Accountability Act.