Frank Godon speaks out for Metis Veterans!

Good Day Readers:

The following article by Frank Godon was posted quite recently on www.derrylsanderson.blogspot.com.

A couple points of clarification are in order. Mr. Godon had a good quality Blog a few years ago devoted to the cause of Metis Veterans but removed it from the internet. Paul Edwards we believe to be from the Winnipeg law firm Duboff Edwards Haight & Schachter which does work for the Manitoba Metis Federation. Mr. Edwards was a Member of the Legislative Assembly while now Senator Sharon Carstairs was Official Opposition Leader for the Liberals.

Finally, Frank Godon previously educated us to the phrase "Cluster F..k" used by Clint Eastwood in the 1986 movie Heartbreak Ridge. Apparently, it's a military term for a situation caused by too many inept officers. The cluster part refers to the insignia worn by Majors and Lieutenant Colenels, that is, an arrangement of oak leafs.

Sincerely,
Clare L. Pieuk
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Metis Vet To Dave Chartrand; 3 years of nothing is too damn long!

Frank Godon, Metis activist, blogger and veteran has taken dead aim at the Manitoba Metis Federation's President and has pulled no punches in saying among other things that Chartrand has taken advantage of a Vet to merely aid public relations and future Vet funding negotiation. From Frank Godon.

David Chartrand - President Manitoba Metis Federation and Minister in charge of Veterans Affairs for the Metis National Council

I'd like to introduce myself to you as it appears that you have forgotten who I am. I'm a Metis Veteran and son of a Metis Veteran. I did some work for the Metis National Council in 2006 researching Metis Veterans who served in World War II and Korea and who after returning home found that they were not allowed the same benefits as other Veterans and were classed in with First Nations.

I met with you, President Chartier, and Professor Scott Sheffield from the University of British Columbia, Frazer Valley. At this time along with the lawyer handling this case, Paul Edwards, we mentioned that the funding supplied would not be adequate but we were told to carry on as you were all working on receiving more money. I travelled western Canada and Ontario interviewing and speaking with Metis Veterans, I even attended the funeral of some Metis Veterans I had interviewed at the request of their families. I started this project because of my father and the more I learned from these Veterans the more passionate I became about it.

In August 2006 Paul Edwards told me there was no more funding and we had to stop, seal the information I had gathered and bring it to the law office and put it in storage. We never even got to the archives in Prince Edward Island. In the 3 years that followed I have tried numerous times to make contact with you or President Chartier but have always been given some excuse as to why you couldn't meet me.

I become critical of how you are doing your job as our president and you forget me?

My father, Francis Godon - the Metis Veteran who you and Clem would parade around as your "Poster Veteran" so you could try to get money from the government - you would introduce him to people like Prime Minister Chrétien or Prime Minister Martin or whoever the Veterans Affairs Minister would be and he would do it for you because he was told, "We're close, should have some compensation for the Veterans in the next 6 to 9 months." He has tried to see you but you have even said "no" to him!

David, I am thankful that you have remembered him for this trip back to Juno, and I am grateful to be going with him. I see this as an opportunity for you and I to sit down and discuss what a cluster f..k your handling of the Metis Veterans compensation has been. President Chartier's and your excuse has always been that you have never received enough money from the government to continue. Well David, if what you are saying about this trip to Juno is true, and that the majority of the funding has come from fundraising, then why haven't you done this type of fundraising to continue with the research and get our Metis Veterans their compensation?

The MMF has managed to raise nearly $100,000 in just a little over 4 months and that's so politicians can go with our Veterans back to Juno. That is quite an achievement and maybe if the government saw you doing this for the research - maybe they would help - just maybe.

David, I know your people read the blogs, well at least I know of one person in your office who does. I am going to keep putting information on the blogs that will make your decisions questionable in the eyes of the Metis community. I mean you no disrespect but unless you personally contact me via email agreeing to meet with me and seriously discuss what needs to be done for the remaining Metis Veterans and how we will achieve compensation for them while they are still alive, I am going to continue with the blogs.

I am speaking for the Metis Veterans who can't speak for themselves. We started something for them - now lets finish it. Three years of nothing is too damn long!

Don't know how effective it has been but the Metis Veterans do have a website. The site appears to be administered by the Metis National Council.

http://www.metisveterans.ca/?page_id=15&sourcePage=12