An Independent Metis Land Claims Commission - why not?
Tansi/Good Day Folks:
Former Manitoba Attorney General Rolland Penner* was interviewed this morning by Winnipeg CBC Radio (AM) host Terry McLeod. Mr. Penner made some interesting points regarding the Metis land claims case:
(1) Assuming damages are awarded by Queen's Bench or Canada's Supreme Court, who gets an entitlement? How will it be determined and distributed? The MMF Leadership is of the view all monies should be given to it and they'll decide
(2) Reflecting upon his years as Attorney General, Mr. Penner noted if he could do it again he would have convened a Metis Land Claims Commission to resolve who and how much descendants of original settlers should receive thereby avoiding very expensive litigation costs
Is it too late to do it now? Assuming there's eventually a monetary settlement why not empower and independent Land Claims Commission?
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
* Rolland Penner, C.M., Q.C. is a Professor at the University of Manitoba. He teaches courses in Criminal and Constitutional law, as well as, The Canadian Charter of Rights And Freedoms.
Former Manitoba Attorney General Rolland Penner* was interviewed this morning by Winnipeg CBC Radio (AM) host Terry McLeod. Mr. Penner made some interesting points regarding the Metis land claims case:
(1) Assuming damages are awarded by Queen's Bench or Canada's Supreme Court, who gets an entitlement? How will it be determined and distributed? The MMF Leadership is of the view all monies should be given to it and they'll decide
(2) Reflecting upon his years as Attorney General, Mr. Penner noted if he could do it again he would have convened a Metis Land Claims Commission to resolve who and how much descendants of original settlers should receive thereby avoiding very expensive litigation costs
Is it too late to do it now? Assuming there's eventually a monetary settlement why not empower and independent Land Claims Commission?
Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
* Rolland Penner, C.M., Q.C. is a Professor at the University of Manitoba. He teaches courses in Criminal and Constitutional law, as well as, The Canadian Charter of Rights And Freedoms.
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 5:32 AM
2 Comments:
Clare said:
"Reflecting upon his years as Attorney General, Mr. Penner noted if he could do it again he would have convened a Metis Land Claims Commission to resolve who and how much descendants of original settlers should receive thereby avoiding very expensive litigation costs"
Mr Penner was Attorney-General in the early 1980'a when the MMF dedided to drop its land claims case in favour of negotiations as promised by the Province.
It was Mr. Penner who then informed the MMF that the Province had decided that they had a legal opinion by Eugene Szach telling us we did not have a legal leg to stand on and that the Province had decided not to enter into negotiations.
The end result was that the MMF had to start all over again and refiled the statement of claim in 1986.
Five years and hundreds of thousands of dollars had been wasted. Shame on Mr. Penner.
I find it quite dissapointing that Mr. Penner “can not recall with any precision what his view (or, more precisely the view of his legal advisors) was then”.
I can tell you that his view and that of his government at the time was that we had no leg to stand on legally. That may be paraphrasing, but that was essentially what their position.
And when he says that “He is presently of the opinion that there is a sound basis for a constitutional challenge as the first step in the process and that, as is the case, the MMF can plead that issue.
Well Mr. Penner, you and your government could have done something about it at the time. Now quite frankly it really doesn’t matter what your opinion is.
Post a Comment
<< Home