The weather is cold and the time has come for staying warm and deep thoughts ….

Since I was a young girl, my grandmother taught me to have a social conscious and to care about others. As a young Métis girl, I was taken everywhere, involved in everything and mentored to be a strong advocate in what I believed in. She taught me how to be proud of who I was and reprimanded me when she seen me take the easy road and not be all I could be.

As a young woman, my mother and grandmother took me to meetings, assemblies and gatherings. I watched and listened. In fact I could tell you many funny stories of the things that I would see. As a child you would watch the passion, the purpose and the intent with which the people would fight for what they believed. The people would have a way to express their vision, their dreams and the goals they wanted to achieve. Sometimes the arguments would last into the wee hours of the morning – but at the end of it all – we were community. We would reach out and touch each other with a warm hand and help. The tears and stories were shared and many laughs were had. We were family. We did not wait for someone to ask for help – we reached out and offered. The young people were there sitting right beside the old ones. Learning and mentoring to grow and to learn from the community that they were a part of.

Where has the community gone?

Now for those of you that are wondering what I am ranting about I will tell you. There is discussion about the Métis National Council and the attempt to rescue it. Then of course I have listened and participated in the discussions around the lack of financial credibility and political accountability from leaders that appear to have lost their sense of where they came from. So I came up with the maybe we are trying to make a Rolls Royce out of a Red River Cart and those old wooden squared off wheels are just not carrying us on a very smooth ride. Maybe it is time for a new cart!

The Métis National Council Secretariat seems to have outlived its’ usefulness. In 1982 –when the Métis were being represented by the Native Council of Canada – we needed to quickly move on the establishment of a National body that whose mandate, priority and focus was the Métis Nation. It was a quick but what was suppose to be a temporary fix until we could work on the establishment of a structure that was more reflective of the community it represents. We have never gone back to establish the constitutionally developed structure that put the will of the Métis first. We just kept trying to fix a corporate structure that was developed on governments requests instead of our needs. What we have ended up with is a territorial turf structure that is for a very small elite group who have forgot their community and the people they say they represent.

Do not get me wrong – I don’t believe that we have to throw the baby out with the bath water but maybe we need a phoenix to rise from the ashes of what Clem Chartier and David Chartrand appear to be hell bent on destroying. Some major issues that appear on the surface are:

∞ The organizational corporate structure will not accept changes to its existence or structure unless the Board of Governors from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta agree to the bylaw change. (Like that will happen anytime in the future.) And O yea – only the Board of Governors can change the bylaws …

∞ The organization is run by one President (based on the bylaws) that never has to have a Board of Governor meeting or never has to account or report for the decision he or she makes back to the community. In fact – when has Clem ever come to any of the provincial assemblies and explained his decisions or sought input into the actions he takes on your behalf.

∞ The election of the President, as David so kindly reminded everyone, is completed by 55 people who are appointed by the Governing Members (Provincial Presidents) who sit there. Now David would like to sit on his democratic song but I challenge any of you to review the past 10 AGA’s to see if the delegates from Manitoba or any other province were always elected – provincially. As in most things – we never live by the rhetoric we spew.

∞ I have left what I believe is the most important element for last – where are the young fresh thinking people. When you look at the people we are talking about potentially running it makes me think of a bunch of old cows standing in a field chewing on our cud. We keep regurgitating the same old people. Don’t get it wrong – I have the utmost respect for a few of these people – but when do we move over and let new ideas, outside of the box thinking and movement that would inspire our young people to get involved. In fact, the court order includes the delegate list – we might have a financial deficit in the audit but we have a much bigger one when it comes to anyone under 35’s involvement. We have no new leaders with vision, passion and the forethought to help us out of this mire. We have developed an institution that shelters the has beens. The past leaders use to bring the young ones with them – teach them – talk to them about leadership and share the passion of our culture. I guess what we have are few leaders and many dictators – we look more like organized crime then we do a nation of people.

Hence – I repeat maybe we need a Phoenix to Rise from the ashes maybe our Red River Cart needs some new round wheels. Just some thoughts on a cold snap – when reflection is good.