NO NEW IS GOOD NEWS

You asked today – why is it so quiet? You know the olé adage “No News is Good News” – I guess it was too quiet …. Below you will see a letter from the Métis Nation of British Columbia. In my view we seen Clem’s election speech – for those of you that forgot – it can be found on the MNC website – he talked about “THE KEY TO SELF-GOVERNMENT, IN MY VIEW, IS TO CONTINUE WITH OUR NATION-BUILDING EFFORTS AND THE POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS THAT COME WITH IT.”…. “AT THE SAME TIME, THE MÉTIS NATIONAL COUNCIL LEADERSHIP MUST WORK CLOSELY WITH THE LEADERSHIP OF THE GOVERNING MEMBERS …”

Bruce Dumont from the Métis Nation of British Columbia on August 1, 2007 of last year said, "My priority is to ensure that the Métis Nation works together to elect a national President at the upcoming MNC General Assembly. Meanwhile, we have much work to do in strengthening our relationship with the federal government and in that regard I will be pressing for an early meeting with the Hon. Jim Prentice, Federal Interlocutor for Métis." http://www.nationtalk.ca/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2468 and shared words about Nation Building when he campaigned in February.

We are going into May – almost 3 months later and we are still not building nations.

http://www.mpcbc.bc.ca/pdf/pr_news19_9.pdf


Friday, April 25, 2008

Clément Chartier
President
Métis National Council (MNC)
Suite 201, 350 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ont.
K1R 7S8

Re: Métis National Council Board of Governor Meeting April 29th and 30th, 2008

Dear MNC President Chartier,

I am writing to provide further clarification in relation to the current Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) leave of absence notification provided on March 3rd, 2008.

MNBC leadership remains adamant that MNBC will not participate at the MNC Board of Governors or any of the various MNC committees’ until the issues identified in MNBC correspondences dated March 3rd and March 10th, 2008 are fully addressed in writing. MNC responses in March dated March 19th and March 28th, 2008 did not clarify the MNBC governance and administrative concerns.

Therefore MNBC continues to seek clarification in writing regarding the original six issues:

1. MNBC remains concerned regarding the corporate stability and lack of transparency related to the financial affairs of the Métis National Council Secretariat Inc. MNBC raised considerable dissatisfaction with the 2006-2007 MNC Secretariat Inc. Financial Statements in November 2007 by submitting two official MNBC communications dated November 1st, 2007 and November 15th, 2007. MNBC did not receive full disclosure or transparency regarding the questions identified in the MNBC correspondences. The MNBC letters in November raised serious questions in relation to possible MNC overpayments. MNBC has been made aware of possible overpayments regarding MNC expenditures and there has been no clear answers or clarification from the MNC. As a non-founding member MNBC is requesting you as the President to clarify whether or not there are any overpayments regarding any of the funding administered by the MNC. MNBC is requesting a response in writing and if there are any overpayments, MNBC is seeking clarification on the amounts in question and the Contribution Agreements affected.

2. MNC was officially placed in default by Health Canada in January 2008. What steps have you as the MNC President initiated to address the issues that have placed the MNC in default? Are you prepared to outline the issues in writing with the MNC Board of Governors that caused the default to occur? Please explain. Furthermore as part of the Health Canada agreement MNBC leadership expressed serious concerns in regards to the Health Canada Agreement and specifically the Aboriginal Health Human Resource Initiative (AHHRI) and Aboriginal Health Transition Funds (AHTF). MNC signed the Health Canada Agreement in August 2006 on behalf of the Métis Nation Governing Members, including the MNBC. MNC utilized the Health Canada Agreement to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the MNBC on May 23rd, 2007. Currently MNC has not met its payment schedule responsibilities identified in Clause 15 of the MoU to support the MNBC AHHRI or AHTF contributions. As a result MNC currently owes MNBC approximately $207 000.00 for this fiscal year and MNBC is seeking clarification to how MNC will address this serious issue. MNBC has fully committed the MNC MoU resources on specific investments including a number of Métis student health scholarships.

3. MNC currently has an outstanding list of payables in January 2008 that totaled approximately $3.1 million and very few of the MNC Contribution Agreements were signed for this fiscal year (2007-2008). What steps are you taking to address the outstanding payables? Please explain.

4. MNBC is unaware of MNC support or any strategy for the Post 2009 Métis Human Resource Development Agreement (MHRDA) program with Service Canada. The MHRDA is very important to the MNBC and the 1000 employment and training clients we serve each year. According to the 2006-2007 MNC Secretariat Inc. Financial Statements MNC utilized resources from Service Canada to support work in the area of employment and training. MNC typically utilized the annual allocation to organize the MHRDA technical working group that is composed of representatives from the Métis Nation Governing Members including the MNBC. There have been no demonstrable efforts made by the MNC this past year to support MNBC’s policy needs for Post 2009. The timeline to meaningfully negotiate MHRDA services delivered by the Métis Nation British Columbia is limited. Service Canada is developing a submission to cabinet regarding the Post 2009 process shortly. What steps are you as the President taking to address this very important file?

5. MNBC is very concerned about existing MNC Secretariat Inc. legal challenges. During the recent Métis National Council General Assembly you were elected the new leader. However, during your acceptance speech you did not clarify your position in relation to the current lawsuit that you have brought against the MNC itself last August 2007. As a non-founding member MNBC would like you to provide your position in relation to the current lawsuit. Are you still seeking alleged damages? MNBC does not support any settlement.

6. MNBC is also concerned that one of the Founding Members (Manitoba Métis Federation) was also involved in the legal action brought against the MNC Board of Governors last August. Has there been a request by MMF President Chartrand for reimbursement of legal costs to support your case? MNBC does not support any such requests for costs.

Until these six areas of concern are fully addressed in writing MNBC will not participate with the MNC Board of Governors or any of the MNC committees. Once again I want to remind you that MNBC leadership has respectfully requested MNC not to speak on our behalf until all such matters are resolved. Further MNBC efforts have been made to clarify amounts owed to MNBC regarding the Health Canada agreements with MNC officials in April (outlined in concern number 2). It is unfortunate that MNC officials have not provided any response to MNBC concerns from a technical level.

MNBC has since established a formal process to review MNBC’s role as a Métis National Council Non-Founding member and requires full disclosure to the written responses that outline the six areas of concern. MNBC has initiated a four-step plan to determine the future relationship with the MNC and the responses are part of our proposed review. The MNBC process ensures Métis governance involvement within our recognized structure. The MNBC is proceeding as follows:

Step One – Present MNC information to the MNBC training session delegates February 29th, 2008 for initial discussion and review. MNBC training session delegates will be requested to present during the next available Métis Chartered Community meeting to seek further community direction for MNBC leaders. MNBC will send an official letter taking an immediate leave of absence from the MNC Board of Governors and all MNC committee’s if there is initial consensus with the training session delegates regarding the overall strategy. The training session includes the majority of the Métis Chartered Community Presidents.

Please note the majority of Métis Nation British Columbia leadership has approved this step in
attendance at that meeting.

Step Two – MNBC President and support staff attends a Regional Governance Council meeting in each of the MNBC regions during April and May 2008 to seek an official mandate through formal resolution. This step will not occur before April to enable sufficient time for the Métis Chartered Communities to review the MNC information provided during the Training Session and therefore be better prepared to discuss at the Regional Governance Council.

Please note that MNBC leadership is currently completing this process. The recent MNC responses are being shared with the seven Regional Governance Councils to ensure MNBC leadership is absolutely transparent about the current situation. Therefore further MNC responses to MNBC’s six areas of concern are important.

Step Three – MNBC leadership will have two options based on the outcome of all seven Regional Governance Council meetings:

Scenario A (terminate relationship): MNBC will communicate with required Federal Government officials at Heritage Canada, OFI, Health Canada, and Service Canada that MNC does not speak on behalf of MNBC and its Métis citizens. Furthermore, that MNBC will be presenting an official resolution at the MNBC Annual General Meeting in September 2008 to formally terminate the MNC relationship.

Scenario B (continue relationship): MNBC Board of Directors will accept the direction and reengage formal communication roles with the MNC Board of Governors.

Step Four (If necessary) – MNBC will draft the formal resolution to terminate the relationship at the MNBC Annual General Meeting (AGM) set for September 2008. MNBC will present to the MNBC AGM delegates. If approved MNBC will send a letter immediately to MNC as required in the MNC Secretariat Inc. bylaws.

Therefore it is important for you as the MNC President to respond directly to the identified MNBC concerns. MNBC requests for responses in writing are very important and MNBC is committed to fully reviewing and informing our governance structure. The current MNC non-responses to the six issues are sending an unfortunate message to the Métis citizens of British Columbia that will certainly have an affect on the outcome of the current review process.



Thank you,
Bruce Dumont
President
cc Métis National Council Board of Governors
Métis Nation British Columbia Board of Directors
MNBC Métis Chartered Communities

A message to all my leaders is, that leadership is about the development of dynamic relationships - influencing the development of partnerships, of mutual respect, common purpose, moral development that affect change and the cooperation of collaborating. If we are to go back now – we recognize the areas of mistrust and the exercise that will be required to find the common purpose necessary to begin the process of becoming effective. Building nations is about going beyond the call…

Let us hope that we do not continue to divide the nation – bring truth back to the table and work to overcome your past.