On November 30, 2024, Canada and the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) signed a landmark self-government treaty which formally recognizes the MMF as the government of the Red River Métis. The Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty [PDF] (the Treaty) is the first modern treaty which Canada has signed with a Métis nation. However, the Treaty will not come into force until Parliament passes enabling legislation.
Background
In 1870, the Red River Colony ' now known as Manitoba ' became the fifth province of Canada. As a condition of joining Confederation, the Métis people of the territory obtained several guarantees from the federal government set out in the Manitoba Act, 1870. Importantly, section 31 of the Manitoba Act committed the federal government to set aside land for the benefit of the Métis.
In 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada sided with the MMF in Manitoba Metis Federation Inc. v. Canada (Attorney General), 2013 SCC 14, in finding that many of the promises in the Manitoba Act were never fulfilled. The Supreme Court held that the "ongoing rift in the national fabric that s. 31 was adopted to cure remains unremedied" and that the...
