by Kevin J. Patriquin

Dear Editor:

I am amazed by the amount of press coverage that is being received by some individuals in Nova Scotia that are claiming to be Metis and therefore entitled to Aboriginal recognition. They have no historical or legal claim to such recognition, and the more this group is ignored, maybe the sooner they will end their quest.

I read where representatives of this group seek recognition because they have “valid ancestry and genealogy.” This basically means that their members can trace their genealogy back several generations until they can find an Aboriginal ancestor. Unfortunately for their claims, this is just a starting point and leaves them a long way from obtaining any legal acknowledgment.

Canadian courts and legal scholars have consistently stated that an individual is not a Metis simply because he or she has some Aboriginal ancestry. The Supreme Court in the Powley case stated that the term Metis in Section 35 of the Constitution “does not encompass all individuals with mixed Indian and European heritage; rather it refers to distinctive peoples who, in addition to their mixed ancestry, developed their own customs, ways of life, and recognizable group identity. . .” The decision went on to say that “a Metis community can be defined as a group of Metis with a distinctive collective identity, living together in the same geographical area and sharing a common way of life.”

I recently spoke with someone from ...