Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/1/2018 (968 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — The Métis National Council will host a conference on how child-welfare systems serve Métis families this March in Winnipeg.

David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, was to announce the conference on Friday at a broader, ongoing "emergency meeting" in Ottawa, looking at the national over-representation of First Nations, Inuk and Métis people in Child and Family Services (CFS) systems throughout the country.

"We’re calling a conference of the Métis Nation to deal with this," Chartrand said Friday on the sidelines of the meeting. "We’re going to hear people’s stories so we can better create policy."

He said the ongoing Ottawa summit has gone well, with major Manitoba groups finding consensus.

"The momentum must maintain itself. Too many of these meetings I’ve been at… you get home and everything just gets forgotten, or goes on the shelf."

The conference in Winnipeg will take place March 26-28. Chartrand expects 200 to 300 people to attend, including experts from as far away as New Zealand, mothers who lost their children at birth and Métis people who grew up with mixed experiences in the system.

"We’re going to try to have the best, most inclusive assembly," he said, adding that there would be an effort to include stories of LGBTTQ* people who had difficulties with their foster families.

Chartrand said Manitoba is the sole province with Métis-led agencies, something he’d like to see further bolstered at home and emulated in other provinces.

Chartrand said he’ll borrow money if needed. "We’re scrambling to get some budgets in place from… our own Métis Nation. We’ll be asking Canada to support this; we’ll be asking the provinces to support this. Without either government, we’re moving ahead with it. It’s coming. It’s going to happen."

He expects federal Indigenous Services Minister Jane Philpott and provincial Families Minister Scott Fielding to attend.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca