Resign David Chartrand - now!

Good Day Readers:

We think David Chartrand should resign immediately. And you?

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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Audrey Poitras

March 29, 2007

Clement Chartier

President, Metis National Council

201 - 350 Sparks St.

Ottawa, ON

K1R 7S8

MNC Board of Governors

David Chartrand

Bruce Dumont

Tony Belcourt

Dear President and Board of Governors,

Since 1984, the Metis National Council (MNC) has served to represent the interests of its Governing Members at the national level. In the past year however, the MNC has acted to set itself above Governing Members by concluding agreements and leveraging Governing Members' resources with Health Canada without participation of Governing Members, agreements that ignore the fundamental principles upon which the MNC was founded.

The breakdown of democratic accountability within the MNC, occasioned by the failure to address promptly, and properly, the disgrace of the 2004 Metis Nation-Saskatchewan elections, has allowed the MNC Minister of Health, David Chartrand, to usurp control of the MNC, and to use resources provided by Health Canada to impose his will on Governing Members who do not agree with the direction he is taking including the Metis Nation of Alberta (MNA).

On March 28, 2007, the MNC Minister of Health signed an agreement with Metco Ventures Inc. - a provate bush clearing company owned Mr. Rick Boucher, who is also a regional elected official of the MNA - to administer a reputed $1.5 million in health capacity dollars, and health scholarships and busaries, to Metis students in Alberta. This is not only a direct attack upon the MNA by the MNC, an organization which should be working in our best interests, but also raises concerns with the actions of the MNC Minister of Health whose lack of respect to accountability cannot be ignored.

In no sense can Metco Ventures Inc. be taken to be accountable to the Metis people of Alberta. Metco is privately owned by Rick Boucher and sits isolated in the northeastern corner of Alberta. Given that the sums involved are much larger than the annual allocation that would have been provided to the MNA under the Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative (AHHRI) to provide with full disclosure of the nature of the private deal iwth Metco Ventures to explain how this company will meet the accountability requirements of the MNC/Health Canada Agreement, and the requirement for matching dollars.

It is precisely because the MNA is acutely concerned with accountability that it is insisting on having a direct Contribution Agreement with Health Canada in respect of the AHHRI and related health initiatives. The MNA has written to the federal Minister of Health on this issue and is awaiting a response. By allocating Health Canada funding targeted for Alberta Metis to a bush clearing company, the MNC Minister of Health has effectively precluded the possibility of Health Canada entering an agreement with the MNA.

The MNC Minister of Health is taking the MNC on a perilous course. He is acting without the sanction of the MNC Board of Governors, let alone ot the MNC General Assembly, of which we are members. he has opened the MNC to eventual mismanagement of funding directed to Alberta metis, and rather than seeking consensus, he is pursuing an aggressive course of action against Governing members that could ultimately lead to the dissolution of hte MNC.

We the undersigned are therefore demanding that the Minister of Health, who is also the MNC Minister of Social Development, resign from these positions immediately. He has lost the confidence of a significant portion of voting delegates at the MNC General Assembly and to allow him to continue in his functions wold only further undermine democratic accountability within our national organization.

Sincerely,

Metis Nation of Alberta

Audrey Poitras

President

Sylvia Johnson

MNA Minister - Labour Market Development

Marlene Lanz

MNA Minister - Health

cc.

MMF Board Members

MNBC Board Members

MNO Board Members

MNA Provincial Council