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Indigenous - Metis. Manitoba Métis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Energy Regulator)
In Manitoba Métis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Energy Regulator) (Fed CA, 2023) the Federal Court of Appeal considers an appeal by a Metis organization of a decision of the Commission of the Canadian Energy Regulator (the Commission) involving a hydro project advanced by Manitoba Hydro. In the course of the ruling the court briefly reviews Metis and Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) history:A. History of the Métis people of Manitoba and the MMF
[39] For years, the Métis have fought and succeeded to have their constitutional Aboriginal rights recognized and protected by the courts. Their history includes the very creation of the province of Manitoba in 1870. At that time, 85 percent of the population of what is now Manitoba was Métis.
[40] In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada was the first court to recognize that the honour of the Crown was engaged by constitutional obligations owed to the Métis pursuant to section 31 of the Manitoba Act, 1870, S.C. 1870, c. 3 (the Manitoba Act). The Supreme Court found that section 31 of the Manitoba Act was not a treaty, but it was a constitutional obligation crafted for the purpose of resolving Aboriginal concerns which then permitted the creation of the province of Manitoba (Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 SCC 14, [2013] 1 S.C.R. 623 at paras. 93, 94 [2013 MMF-SCC]). The Supreme Court concluded that the honour of the Crown was engaged and gave rise to a duty of diligent, purposive fulfillment towards the Métis (2013 MMF-SCC at para. 94). The Supreme Court found that this was not done and that a government sincerely intent on fulfilling the duty that its honour demanded could and should have done better (2013 MMF-SCC at para. 128).
[41] In the same Supreme Court decision, for the first time, the MMF was granted standing to represent the collective interests of the Métis people of Manitoba (2013 MMF-SCC at para. 44).
[42] The Métis have also been recognized as part of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c. 11. As a result, the Métis enjoy a constitutionally protected right under section 35 to engage in practices that were historically important features of their distinctive communities, such as hunting (R. v. Powley, 2003 SCC 43, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 207).
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