Metis Nation of Ontario votes to remove members with incomplete citizenship files

By Staff The Canadian Press Posted March 2, 2023 12:22 pm People walk past a tipi during the National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations at Mādahòkì Farm in Ottawa, Ontario on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg The Metis Nation of Ontario has voted to remove members whose citizenship files do not have full documentation to prove a Metis connection or ancestry. The organization representing Metis people in the province says it decided after its annual general assembly last August to hold a vote on whether existing members whose files do not meet citizenship requirements should be removed.That came after it began assessing the completeness of its citizenship files in 2017.The organization says work over the last six years has indicated approximately 18 per cent of its membership — or 5,400 members — could not be verified as Metis rights-holders because of missing documentation. Trending Now Story continues below advertisement It says the vote, which was held from early December to late January, saw 71 per cent of those who cast ballots decide to remove members with incomplete citizenship files from its registry.The organization says removals won’t be immediate, since a special or annual assembly would first need to be held for bylaws and registry policy to be amended.But the organization’s president says the results of the vote shows members want to ensure all of the Metis Nation of Ontario’s citizens are Metis rights-holders. &copy 2023 The Canadian Press Sponsored content Flyers