Paddle Prairie to vote in referendum

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Paddle Prairie settlement residents will vote Jan. 18 on whether to accept or reject a decision to pull-out of the Federation of Metis Settlements.

On Nov. 14, Paddle Prairie council voted to separate from the Alberta Federation of Metis Settlement Associations (AFMS) because some of the councilors felt the concerns of the council were being ignored by the AFM's all-settlement council.

The Jan. 18 referendum is the end result of a Dec. 28 meeting between the Paddle Prairie settlement council, settlement residents, and Municipal Affairs, according to Rick McDonald, director of the Metis settlements branch of Alberta Municipal Affairs.

About 65 people attended that meeting, he said.

"That was the outcome of the meeting...to let the people decide on the resolution," he claimed.

The referendum will be organized by the Paddle Prairie council and monitored by the department. The council will hire some independent people to run the referendum and McDonald said his department will be meeting with the council on that issue.

"We just want it to be clear so there can be no misunderstanding of the wording," he added.

But council spokesperson Cora Weber-Pillwax contradicted that statement.

"I don't think the council has even considered that the government would have any say on the referendum, at all, in the wording," she added.

Weber-Pillwax confirmed the referendum will be monitored by Municipal Affairs, noting, "they're the ones that wanted the vote."

Dennis Surrendi, the assistant deputy minister of Municipal Affairs' improvement districts and Native services division, consulted the council in December, wanting a clearer understanding of the council's resolution to separate. He questioned if they had the support of settlement residents.

Weber-Pillwax indicated the three councilors who voted for the pullout are "confident" of winning support for that decision.

"I know that they have a lot of people that support them," she added.

Paddle Prairie council chairman Robert Parenteau and councilors Pat Gaucher and Emma Martineau voted to separate from the AFMS on Nov. 14.

The vote caused a bitter split on the council. Councilors Mervin Bellerose and Joe Cardinal who were not at the meeting said they would not have supported the motion of separation if they had been present.

The council wanted amendments to Bills 64 and 65, allowing municipal self-government on the settlements. They wanted settlements to get jurisdiction over their own lands and policy-making powers instead of the AFMS all council.

In a letter to Windspeaker, Parenteau charged his council has "been placed under tremendous pressure" by Municipal Affairs to have a referendum accepting or rejecting the motion of separation.

"It should be understood that this is supported by the Council, not because of Dr. Surrendi's pressure but because our people have requested it."