Press Release (PDF)

Timmins, ON — Yesterday, Wabun Tribunal Council released a new, independent academic Report concluding that there is no evidence to support claims of a distinct, mixed- ancestry community in the territory of First Nations represented by Wabun Tribal Council.

The new Report is only one of almost a dozen academic studies produced for Métis and First Nation groups demonstrating that the claims made by the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) are not supported by evidence or the law.

“MNO’s strategy relies on taking scant mentions of the word ‘half-breed’ entirely out of historical context in an attempt to build the fiction of these MNO communities that never existed in Wabun territory. MNO’s claims are all smoke and mirrors. First Nations across Ontario have been calling for robust scrutiny of MNO’s claims for years. It’s time for Canada and Ontario to step up, release the so-called evidence they relied on and stop ignoring the almost a dozen academic reports showing that MNO’s claims are false,” said Jason Batise, Executive Director of the Wabun Tribal Council.

Wabun encourages the public, proponents, and governments to read the new Report about Wabun territory and all the existing academic reports about MNO’s claims and decide for themselves. Wabun is confident people will reach the same conclusion as the overwhelming majority of legitimate Indigenous groups and academic studies.

Wabun supports the claims of legitimate Indigenous groups, but there must be some basis in fact to support those claims – taking refuge in twisting facts, cherry-picking evidence is simply MNO’s way of trying to avoid scrutiny. The Report released by Wabun confirms that there was no historic Métis community in Wabun territory.

    • The term “half-breed” was a term describing a personal characteristic (having mixed- ancestry parents). Regardless of how the term may have been used in Red River territory or elsewhere, in Wabun territory the term “half-breed” was not an indicator of group affiliation, as the Report demonstrates conclusively.
    • On the question of Treaty 9 and the allegation the term “half-breed” in the treaty was used to refer to something other than First Nation individuals, the Report notes that “the commissioners’ journals and reports during their 1905-1906 trips in northern Ontario do not mention meeting any group of people whom they considered to be of a social category other than “Indian” within the research area. Praxis Research
    • Associates, who researched this specific question, show that treaty commissioners were not presented with any formal representation of people who claimed rights under any category other than “Indian” rights within the research area.”
    • One term taken out of historical context does not compare to a comprehensive review historical evidence in Wabun How could there be a distinct Métis community in Wabun territory if there is not even one mention of anyone encountering or even mentioning such a group anywhere in Wabun territory?
    • The multiple academic reports about MNO’s claims have repeatedly criticized MNO’s evidence for its claims. For example, a report produced for Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, with the involvement of a who’s who of Métis scholars, called MNO’s approach “uncompelling and anti-relational” stating: “The review raised concerns about the scope, quality, and representation of research, particularly in how it has been deployed by the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) in public-facing documents.”
    • Recent reports produced by award-winning academics for the Saugeen Ojibway Nation reject MNO’s claims. Reports for the Robinson-Huron Waawiindamaagewin called out MNO’s “poor research practices”, and multiple Métis governments across the country disavowed the Metis National Council’s “expert” panel report, with the Red River Métis government calling out the MNC report as being “riddled with errors” and ludicrous “falsehoods.” Métis and First Nations have repeatedly called out MNO’s claims as baseless because the so-called MNO communities never existed.
    • The many academics who have contributed to the various reports calling MNO’s claims into question are well-respected scholars, and include leading Métis MNO’s personal attacks on academics is nothing but an attempt to distract from the content of the many comprehensive studies.

MNO is correct that nothing has the changed – there have never been any Métis communities in Wabun territory and Canada and Ontario continue to fail to take reasonable steps to verify MNO’s claims.

“The last time Wabun had a “dialogue” with MNO, MNO made demands about Matachewan First Nation’s reserve lands. But the harm MNO is causing is much broader than First Nation communities. The enabling of MNO’s baseless claims is causing harm to legitimate Indigenous Nations and the Canadian public. Government spending on MNO is wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars and diverting scare resources away from legitimate Indigenous groups and Canadians alike,” said Batise.

Wabun Tribal Council calls on Canada and Ontario to stop hiding from their mistake and take action to fix the problem they have created for all Canadians.

Media Contact

Jason Batise
Executive Director
Wabun Tribal Council
313 Railway Street
Timmins, ON
P4N 2P4

Fax: (705) 268-8554

Email: [email protected]