Surrey – Métis Nation British Columbia’s (MNBC), the federally and provincially recognized government for Métis in British Columbia, has advanced an agreement with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
After years of neglect by previous leadership, MNBC’s Cabinet voted to invest $1.1-million into Wahkohtowin, the Registry Renewal Project. The investment includes new registry equipment and software, office supply support for communities and new full-time staff positions.
“Many grassroots MNBC Citizens and Métis Chartered Communities have long asked MNBC’s leadership to address the unacceptably long process for Citizenship applications, and I’m proud that it was our Cabinet that finally took action to address it,” says Patrick Harriott, MNBC Minister of Citizenship and Community Services. “Now with this agreement with ISC, we can continue modernizing our Registry, which is the gold standard for Métis governments in Canada.”
The agreement with ISC ensures the over 30,000 MNBC registry application records will continue to be compared with the Indian Register on a regular and ongoing basis. The process is to ensure that Métis Citizens are distinct from other Aboriginal peoples, as per MNBC’s Constitution and the National Definition adopted by the Métis National Council General Assembly. The files were filtered using 16 different queries by the Office of the Indian Register. Results from the query indicate 136 MNBC Citizens of the over 23,000 approved applications appear on the Indian Register since the last review. Flagged individuals are not eligible for Metis citizenship and will be notified. Those notified will have the opportunity to launch an appeal. The entire MNBC Registry database is filtered with the Indian Register on an annual basis and new applications are run through the system monthly.
MNBC is also working with institutions across BC to help better coordinate our Registry with organizations across the province. It is no longer acceptable, and in fact has never been acceptable, for someone to claim Métis heritage to get ahead professionally or academically, and our government wants to play a critical role in preventing that from happening.
The agreement with ISC, along with other rigorous processes being developed during Wahkotowin ensures that MNBC’s Central Registry meets incredibly strong standards and guarantees the integrity of the entire citizenship database. The work also builds on MNBC’s recently announced Citizen-Based Funding Initiative, which states only registered MNBC Citizens or those with an active complete application in the Registry, are eligible for MNBC programs, services, and funding.
