Every year, thousands of Red River Métis from across the homeland gather in Winnipeg to attend the Manitoba Metis Federation’s Annual General Assembly (AGA).
Last weekend, nearly 4,000 attended the assembly hosted at the Assiniboia Downs.
Over three days, delegates were given a chance to share their perspectives, connect with kin and participate in Métis governance.
However, not all felt their voices were heard.
APTN News spoke with several MMF citizens who said the environment felt hostile, and in some cases, unsafe.
President utters threats
On the final day of the AGA, MMF Bison Local members James Lavallée and Mohamed Crossman-Serb put forth a resolution urging the MMF to denounce Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
It said that the MMF cabinet should immediately condemn “the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, including the actions of Israel and its military activities and continued violation of human rights by the Israeli state.”
Lavallée uploaded a Facebook post calling on MMF members to support the resolution.
At the AGA, MMF President David Chartrand responded with threatening language.
“I’ve just seen that email by James Lavallée that’s here, that’s asking questions. He’s calling out to all these people supporting Palestine to come here and try to intimidate us,” Chartrand said. “I’ll tell you something, you never try to intimidate a Métis…I’ll go out there and beat the sh*t out of anybody who tries to threaten my people, I’ll tell you that right now.”
APTN reached out to the MMF for comment.
MMF Minister of Housing Will Goodon believes Chartrand may have misinterpreted the post.
“There was perhaps thought that it wasn’t delegates that they were trying to bring down but that it was Palestinian protestors,” Goodon said over Zoom.
Lavallée said Chartrand’s remarks reflect why some Métis don’t feel safe at the AGA.
“People don’t feel safe there, and this is a great example of why people don’t feel safe there,” Lavallée told APTN over the phone. “The president is literally threatening physical violence against people who stand in opposition.”
The resolution did not pass.
‘I’m petrified of the mics’
Casandra Woolever is a member of the MMF’s Seven Oaks Local in Winnipeg.
At the AGA, Woolever urged the MMF to make the First Time Home Purchase Program more accessible to single parents.
However, knowing how other outspoken delegates had been treated in the past, she said it wasn’t easy to speak up.
“In all honesty, I’m petrified of the mics,” Woolever said. “Unless you go up there with a specific, ‘thank you, however, this is a really great idea’ way of approaching it, it can get pretty scary up there at mics.”
At the 2021 AGA, Chartrand publicly denounced the grassroots Métis group, Red River Echoes, for criticizing the MMF.
“For those out there who want to criticize our system, our government, our design they can go to hell because our people work hard to develop it,” Chartrand said during the 2021 AGA.
Some Red River Métis APTN spoke with requested anonymity, citing fears of retaliation.
APTN has independently verified their identities and affiliations.
One MMF citizen took issue with the president and chair expressing their opinions on resolutions.
“There shouldn’t be retribution to saying things and asking questions,” they said over the phone. “We should create an open, inclusive space that allows all voices where the chair or the president does not then weigh in on what the person has just said, to tell the room how to feel about what has just been shared.”
Another said they no longer attend the AGA in person for safety reasons. They claim underrepresented groups, like youth and 2SLGBTQ+ people, are among those who feel intimidated to speak out.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen a pattern over the last few years of those segments of our population becoming increasingly alienated and they don’t feel safe, and so they stop coming to AGAs,” the MMF citizen said over the phone. “The result is those communities are not well-represented at the AGA, because they don’t feel safe. I am part of that.”
A call for change
Several Métis expressed concerns with the MMF’s resolution process where delegates vote by raising their hands.
“That’s what kind of started some of the shouting matches at the end of the AGA, was seeing those who voted against a specific resolution that other people were very passionate about,” Woolever said. “However, if we didn’t know what that person voted for, we’re not looking at them differently.”
Goodon, who is also the assembly chair, said the voting system has been in place for years, and that he’s never seen issues arise that couldn’t be resolved.
“Maybe it’s an opportunity for people to reflect on, again, ‘how effective was I?’ Obviously not very effective. ‘Oh, but it was because the voting was this way.’ Well, if you were effective, the voting would’ve been the other way, the peer pressure would’ve been the other way,” Goodon said.
In an emailed statement, an MMF youth delegate claimed they were heckled by others in the crowd for voting according to their beliefs.
“I was told to lower my hand while raising it to vote. I was told to shut up when talking to another person at my table. I was told I was shameful,” they stated. “It was a really challenging AGA to say the least. It was the first AGA where I experienced heckling towards me simply for voting in favour of what I believe.”
However, Lavallée said it’s not just youth who are feeling unsafe.
“We’re not just talking about youth, we’re talking about all citizens who may share different opinions than the current leadership,” he said. “If you have a very united group of people, you need a way to safely have competing thoughts that’ll help people get to better outcomes.”
Goodon stressed that all Red River Métis are invited to share their perspectives at the AGA, even if they dissent from the norm.
