Photo Courtesy EverythingGP Staff

By Tanner Smith

Self-Government Vote

Region 6 Metis people gathered to vote on MNA constitution and celebrate a retirement

Nov 21, 2022 | 4:44 PM

A vote in the largest ratification in Canadian history for an Indigenous nation was held Friday, November 18, at the Jackpot Grill.

Metis Nations of Alberta citizens in Region 6 gathered to vote on a self-governance agreement. Canada currently has 25 of these agreements, also called modern treaties, but none have been finalized in Alberta.

Audrey Poitras, President of Metis Nations of Alberta says they didn’t just vote at this event but had a cultural celebration and retirement party for a long-time community member Angie Crerar.

“One of our elders that has been a local president has been involved in so much that the Metis Nation has done for many years. She retired as the local president and we had a function in her honor as well as had people come out and vote.”

Poitras says Crerar has been a beacon in the Grande Prairie and Metis communities.

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She adds people had the option to fill out a mail-in ballot or online ballot, but many voted in person because of Angie, to celebrate her, and vote for something she embodied.

“There was a huge crowd. The whole place was filled. A facility that only held so many and it was full. I would say there were probably 250 to 300 people there and they were all there for Angie, and what she stands for.”

The National President of the Metis Council, Cassidy Caron even flew in that day to celebrate Angie and show her support for the Metis people and their push for self-government.

The MNA (Metis Nations of Alberta) has been around for 94 years and with this vote, they look to finalize the self-government agreement they signed with the federal government, back in 2019.

Poitras says after being at the event Friday and seeing all the support for Angie and what she believed in, she thinks the Metis people will vote yes to self-governance, even after the delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

” It gave us the time as a commission to really look at all those things that our people had brought forward, to ask questions on, to make sure we were making those articles in our constitution as strong as they could be, based on the information our people were bringing forward.”

She adds the agreement is a living document, and that it may not be perfect but the Canadian Constitution was amended a couple of times, and they can do the same with this self-government agreement as they go along.

Albertans with Metis status who want to vote on this self-government agreement can still do so until the end of the month.

Votes are accepted by mail-in ballots, ballot boxes, and online voting.

To find out how to cast your ballot, click here.