Global News – The Métis Nation – Saskatchewan (MN-S) has launched a lawsuit against the province claiming the government is not doing enough to consult with the Métis over issues like land use, and commercial activities like trapping and fishing. The statement of claim…also says the provincial policy on consultation, issued in 2010, doesn’t recognize Métis assertions of Aboriginal title to land and resources. Last year Métis in Saskatchewan and Alberta filed a massive land claim, seeking roughly 122,000 square kilometers in northwest Saskatchewan and northeast Alberta. The claim seeks redress for land lost to the Métis more than a century ago through the scrip system (stripped Métis of most of their land in the 1880’s after the Northwest Rebellion and acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2013)

The lawsuit also points to what it says is a lack of consultation by the province when issuing mineral interests within land claimed by the Métis. The “2010 First Nations and Métis Consultation Policy Framework” allows the government to determine if consultation should be triggered and how much is merited. The MN-S is asking the Court of Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan for several declarations, including that the 2010 policy is invalid and that the province’s continued reliance on it avoids duty to consult and is dishonourable.