Settlement members unsure about Resolution 18

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Members of the Metis settlements have "mixed feelings" about Resolution 18, a discussion paper dealing with land entitlement and the governing of the eight settlements.

"There's a lack of understanding. There are some people who are dead against it because they think we're selling out on Aboriginal rights," says Randall Hardy, president of the Federation of Metis Settlements. Others have put their trust in the council, he adds.

The document, which was tabled by the province last June 17, centers around the issue of land and consists of three proposals.

The first part deals with an amendment to the Alberta Act to protect settlement land in the Canadian Constitution. The second part covers letters of patent which would put the land in the name of each individual settlement and the final section proposes a scheme on how the settlements will be run. This last proposal is known as the new Metis Settlement Act.

The Federation has recently concluded its third in a series of four meetings with each settlement to explain the document and to allow members input into the document.

Hardy says all eight settlements are in agreement over the entitlement of land but there are differences over the legislation regarding the new Metis Betterment Act.

"I'll be the first to admit it's not a perfect piece (of proposed legislation) that's going to be all things to all peopleI'm sure we'd never have 100 per cent of the people (in agreement)it's pretty tough to get consensus."

Floyd Thompson, chairman of the Kikino Settlement, says about 140 members turned out to an open meeting on Resolution 18 on March 8 and asked questions ranging from how their Aboriginal rights would be affected to the process of acquiring additional settlement land for individual settlement members.

Thompson is pleased with Resolution 18 because he feels it gives the settlements more autonomy to run their own affairs. As an example, he points to the bylaw making process.

"Council will introduce the bylaw, do the first reading, then they will take it to the general membershipif the majority of the people at that general meeting pass the bylaw then it will be passed. If they vote it down then it won't become a bylaw. So you're giving the authority to your members, something that is not done anywhere in Canada."

He also supports the entrenchment of settlement land in the Canadian Constitution. "The only way it will be taken away from (us) is if we happened to be invaded by another country."

Since the last round of meetings, Hardy says there have been 30 amendments put forward by settlement members to the discussion paper.

The amendments will be taken to a council consisting of executive members of all eight settlements. Their recommendations will then be presented to the Resolution 18 negotiating committee comprised of government representatives and the executive of the Federation.

Once the final draft of the document is written, it will be taken back to settlement membership for a fourth and final time.