It wasn’t an easy decision to make, but I’ve fallen in line with a group of Metis patriots and can no longer stand by and watch as our leaders take us down the paths of servitude – a condition in which one lacks liberty especially to determine one’s course of action or way of life – and unaccountability to the people.
President Reagan once said: “To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last–but eat you he will.” I can no longer sit back hoping someone will “make things right”.
This is why I am running for president of the Manitoba Metis Federation.
Via our good friend, Darcey. You can view the campaign video here. The elections are June 10th.
Has anyone else noticed the rewriting of history currently underway in the media?
The “Northwest Rebellion” is now being branded as the “Northwest Resistance”.
Rebellion bad, resistance good.
Don’t know anything about him but hopefully he can provide the leadership needed to break the cycle of victim hood and looking to the welfare state for salvation
The fact that there is a Metis Federation is more evidence of what a racist country we are. When will we as a society and government look at ourselves as people rather races.
The main contribution of the MMF has been the introduction of “Harvester Cards”- prove you are Metis (which is a joke btw.) and you get a card that says you can hunt/fish when you want, where you want, and avoid Provincial conservation laws, and the Province has would rather negotiate than prosecute, as the MMF is a source of support for the NDP.
m: The Metis existance of a Metis Federation is no worse than Having a Danish Canadian Club or a Robbie Burns Society. The problem is with legislative recognition and the bureaucracy and funding that goes with that. Of course, the Federation isn’t remotely as bad as the “First Nations” debacle but, it’s heading in that direction. Now Gordon wants to have PAID councillors. WTF
Metis cards are an abomination, and now Frank Gordon wants to make them a national ID. I thought that he had more sense than that, and I’m deeply disappointed in him.
Considering that European folk were here one generation prior to the Metis, I find it incongruous that Metis are afforded rights or priveleges not offered to those of European ancestory.
So what do they want now? I thought the Rebellion of 1885 had settled the score. My Grandfather was French, my Grandmother was Scottish. I’m white, I’m just a an ordinary Canadian. If however my grandmother would have been Indian or “half breed,” somehow that changes my status.
Amazing what parliament and or the legislature can conceive.
Point of interest. I was recently researching a story that took place in 1880 in Louisiana. When a negro woman married a French or “Cajun” man, the offsring was know as “metisse.” So where did the word originate? Definitely not in Manitoba. Wish I would have kept the article.
They get special privileges because 300 plus years ago one European male had sex with an Indigenous female.
And you thought paying alimony to your first wife was onerous?
Time to find a new Milking Champion for the Metis Victim Society.
The Metis have had it rough as they have been shunned by both sides of the ‘issue’. It should not make them ‘special’,but it does make others a-holes. For those who always look at race as a requirement for privilege,I strongly suggest looking into the requirements for adopting a native or Metis child in Alberta.Anyone without the ‘right’ linkage need not apply.
Thanks Kate very much for the link.
– The national ID will eliminate a crap load of bureaucracy
– What do we want now?
Transparency, small government, the end of nepotism, handups and not handouts, ect…
Thanks for all the comments here
“I do however want to make one thing perfectly clear and that is that I am a Canadian first and I do not believe in a separate Metis Nation out side of Canada. I have been accused in the past of wanting our people to be assimilated into the Canadian culture, but I don’t believe in assimilation. I believe in integration. If our people are to be successful in life they need to integrate into current Canadian society.”
– http://metisonline.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62%3Aplatform-of-mmf-presidential-candidate-frank-godon&catid=36%3Acampaign&Itemid=55 –
And please the last name is “Godon” not “Gordon” 🙂
“Metis” is French for “half”. For some reason it’s politically correct, whereas the English “halfbreed” is not.
BTW, if Godon succeeds in bringing accountability to the Metis Federation of Manitoba, let’s hope it spreads to organizations like the FSIN.
Not having the benefit of treaties which they can reinterpret and exploit in wild and wondrous ways, the Metis have always had a leg up on First Nations. They’ve had to fend for themselves and make their own way in life. And yes, they’ve had a hard row to hoe, but that’s made them tougher, more resilient and less inclined to expecting everything handed to them on a silver platter.
I wish Mr.Godon every success.
I’ve said it time and time again – Indian leadership sucks 😉
“halfbreed” – I’ve always been one.
“Metis” is French for “mixed”, as in mixed blood or race. “Demi” is French for “half”.
hey darcy…i’m half irish mesself…you wouldn’t believe the ignominy…how i’ve beared the burden i canna say….i must be resilient strong and an optimist and believer in the fundamental goodness and fairness and charity of the Canadian society i live in and believe in…
as the buddha said..’you don’t work…you don’t eat”
them buffaloes are gone …but we’re still here…
what realistically is one to do…
live in the past and litigate in the present and the future?..or git it on to the glorious green light future…
Good luck Darcy. If there is any hope of reforming aboriginal leadership it will likely be the Metis who lead the way.
Syncro
What I don’t get is how did we ever get a Louis Riel Day in this country. Isn’t that a bit like have a Benedict Arnold Day in the States?
I have always wondered, which side of the DNA equation is disabled, the native/french, or the native/ scots?.. As in , why do they need some kind of financial support from the rest of us?… Dont know about the natives, but I am part french, and also part Scot, where do I go to make my claim that the rest of you are on my land so pay the f**k up!
On my mother’s side, I figure the English under Edward and Cromwell owe me a pile of reparations, and on my father’s side Duke William of Normandy owes for taking our land and giving us orders in French. My forbears have been starved in potato famines and been taxed near death by the Normans; someone pay up!
All historical references aside, lets deal in reality.
The Indian, Inuit and Metis (or First Nations if you will) are a recognized and even pandered to demographic in Canada.
We (as in Canada) seem to piss a lot of money into this pot.
It doesn’t appear to be working.
Darcy makes several small c-conservative points that should resonate around here.
Instead of embracing a Metis candidate with some conservative chops many here piss and moan that they didn’t get theirs or are somehow ineligible due to some genetic miscalculation by the powers that be.
Which brings this question to mind. Who told you things were going to be fair?
Syncro
Damn!!! Another welfare group that demands that they be supported for the rest of time….not only that, they demand that they can kill animals any time of the year as well as fish at any time of the year, sorta like they’ve got some built in sense of conservation, y’know, it’s a racial thing man.
A loud and long BS to that!!!
Pat
What part of the current reality are you not understanding?
Syncro
Why is it that when they are attempting to define their heritage and place in Canadian society today, the Metis only emphasize the tax exempt/free hunting side of their lineage? My ancestors were here nine months before theirs were, and yet they seem unwilling to acknowledge their DNA ties to me, or identify with my race-based situation (get a job, abide by the rules of the land, and pay for your own bloody education). On the positive side of this fellow’s candidacy, at least he has run a business at some point in his life. That speaks far more to me than a history of “activism”, which is simply a more acceptable way of saying “Whiner, rather than doer”. If he really is a change from the welfare mindset, I wish him well.
Well, Indians were permitted to vote in national elections as of 1957; Eskimos got the vote in 1963; the average life expectancy of native people in Canada in the 1940’s was 27 years (mostly child mortality) and up to the beginning of the 1960’s, the first sentence of the Indian Act was: “For the purposes of all laws of Canada, a “person” is defined as being any human being other than an Indian or an Eskimo”.
Since then, Canada has poured tens of billions of dollars of liberal guilt money into “Indian Affairs” and the well-intentioned (?) system has caused a huge mess. What is past is past; history is history; no use dredging up grievances from the past because everybody gets their turn to be discriminated against in history; new native leaders are arising, strong, proud, independent, and free. But sometimes, when looking at the disaster on many (not all) apartheid ghettos, remember to look with some compassion for history; that your father was legally a person (and so could for example sign a contract or get a mortgage); the father of the native person you are talking to was legally a ward of the state with no legal right to be considered as a person. It makes a difference.
It may make a difference Bob Dawson, but Jesus H. Christ, GET OVER IT. How long do I have to keep opening my wallet to appease white liberal guilt?
My father’s family were ‘victims’ of Stalinist rule in the former Soviet controlled Ukraine. 3 generations later I’m not pissing and moaning over this, demanding lavish government programs and entitlements as my birthright.
Tear up the Indian Act and end all special welfare programs to both the ‘first nations’ and metis. I’d even go so far as to not subscribe to the adage of ‘teach a man to fish’. Let them figure it out for themselves. My relatives had to.
Syncro….
Too bad people didn’t actually read the webpage the Kate provided. Some very good ideas for changes there.
Damn..the guy was a MARINE!
Quotes Reagan? OMG! Could the worm be turning?
Good luck Frank!
Trudeau added the “Metis” to his constitution, without bothering to define what a “Metis” is. While Indians and Inuit were there, and known from the BNA. (Indian Affairs Dept.)
As a result various courts have been defining their “rights” ever since.
Well, any Indian or Metis leader who can stand up and say “It’s time we take a long, hard look at ourselves” has got my support.
Let’s face it. Any change to the current status quo has to come from within; there isn’t a federal politician with the balls to stand up and say what has to be said – let alone do what has to be done.
My Mother spanked me once. Am I entitled to anything?
Although I don’t know him personally, he’s been a long time & regular commenter at The Broom. My impression is he’s definitely a no BS, shoot from the hip, type of guy who will cause a few heads to explode within the establishment. Good luck Frank! 😉
“Eskimo” said:
“My father’s family were ‘victims’ of Stalinist rule in the former Soviet controlled Ukraine. 3 generations later I’m not pissing and moaning over this…” They would be moaning over it if they still lived in a Stalinist system. The reservations are part of a system that is remarkably Stalinist. You know, for example, the simple fact that a Reserve where I lived the native people could not own houses or land. They did not have a school board. They did not have a municipal government. They could not win government tenders to pick up their own damn garbage on their own damn reservation because the native applicant was “lacking in business experience.” So the garbage collection contract went to a firm a hundred miles away. Etc. etc. etc. The “Indian Affairs” situation is a colossal mess, is all I am saying. It needs a massive change; and there is a new generation of native leaders emerging – Frank Godon and Darcey Jerrom being huge examples, and there are many others. Good idea to support them, especially when you look at who is trying to stop them and why.
HOZ
I often wonder how many commenters bother to read the links provided. Their loss.
Mr. Godon is likely in for a tough fight but he sounds like the kind of fellow up to the task.
Syncro
Interesting read on the Rebellion.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/years+starvation+spurred+Cree+uprising+northeastern+Alta/3064821/story.html
To observe the anniversary of the march and battle, the Steele’s Scouts Commemorative military cavalry plans to stage a 160-kilometre trek on horseback from Frog Lake to Frenchman Butte and Loon Lake in September, but Brown is disappointed few Canadians are aware of their rich history.
“It is absolutely amazing the characters that we have in our history and it is just not being absorbed at all by Canadians.”
My paternal side predated the Metis by at least 40 years on this continent and yet all I’m eligable for is standard welfare! Geez where do I find basic info on starting entitlement movements.
The natives, French and immigrants get what they do simply because this country thinks it is wealthy enough to give it. When the day comes that reality sets in it will stop. The average Canadian has no idea how much money is transferred each year. Especially the young. Cheap politicans play this game for all the votes they can get.
My first ancestor stepped off the boat in the mid 1600’s in New France. Sent here by the King of France to kill the Indians that were raiding farms and villages in the New World. It never came to that. He married a Filles Du Roi and a few generations later we were hooked into the fur trade as Nor’ Westers. Out of Quebec during the Diaspora to Minnesota, North Dakota then Northern Alberta. I can place my members of my family in the same places and times of both rebellions, and as farmers, soldiers and shopkeepers. We built this country and the one south of us, survivors to the end.
What does that make me? Canadian, in every sense of the word. What does this country owe my family? Nothing.
Frank is one of the few who will stand up and unveil the farce that MMF politics has become. He has some very good ideas and will be hard pressed to put them into action, but we will hold him accountable.
This isn’t about putting another puppet into power, it is about bringing some real positive change to the beaurocracy.
It is overdue.
@John Brooks – most Canadians are completely clueless when it comes to the rich history of our country. It’s far easier to be ignorant than to be educated.
Thank you everyone for the comments and the well wishes – my biggest obstacle right now is finding enough money for radio and newspaper ads – I am asking anyone who wants to help us to donate via our paypal button or as some are doing going and printing off our brochures themselves (download on our website) and then sending them to me or handing them out if they live in MB. I will document all money received and where it was spent. Unlike my rival who know one knows how much money he has in his war chest or where its being spent. I find it interesting that this guy keeps mentioning the Metis nation but unlike our own government doesn’t report to the people how much they are spending on the election. There is no accountability in the MMF and that is the first thing I will change – And yes I want to take us out of this welfare nanny state we are in and help our people to learn how to help themselves and to be “CANADIANS” first with proud rich traditions.
Frank Godon For MMF president