Shocking Politics Being Played with MNBC Constitution
(February 16, 2024) Shocking politics are being played with a core provision of the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) Constitution in a poorly disguised effort to stop former MNBC President Clara Morin Dal Cal from running in the next election.
Resolution #2 which has been submitted to the upcoming Métis Nation Governing Assembly (MNGA) by the Salmon Arm Métis Association and nine other communities is attempting through a declaration to apply a whole new meaning to a key part of the Constitution – Article 23.8. The new meaning does not align at all with the existing wording of Article 23.8.
Article 23.8 of the Constitution has always referred only to existing members of the MNBC Board who can be removed from office for so-called breaches of their fiduciary duty. The resolution being advanced by the group of 10 communities proposes to declare that the Article in the Constitution also applies to anyone running for office in a future election. And to reveal the shocking political game even more, the proponents are using a provision of the MNGA Act which says that any such resolution that is passed expires 30 days after the election.
How many of the ten Community Presidents actually held community meetings before signing onto this disgraceful resolution that will, if approved make a wholesale change in the meaning of Article 23.8? We are not aware of any meetings being held before they signed onto the resolution. Community Presidents are not one-person shows. They are accountable to their members and if all their members knew that they had signed onto a resolution that proposes a whole new meaning to a core provision of the Constitution instead of following the proper process of amending the Constitution, most members would be opposed.
This group could have proposed a formal amendment to the Constitution which requires a 75% approval at an MNGA and most importantly a 75% approval at an AGM where citizens get to vote, but through this shameful act, they are trying to pass it with a simple majority of 50% plus 1 at the upcoming MNGA thus avoiding taking it to the people at an AGM.
Ms. Morin Dal Col who was first elected as President in 2016 and then re-elected in 2020 before being wrongfully removed said, “This is a very desperate move by a small group of members of the MNGA to try and stop me from running in this year’s election. If they think what they’re doing is right, then let’s go to the people and let them decide. The ultimate test of a true democracy is a fair and open election.”
Ms. Morin Dal Col, the first elected female President of MNBC asks, “What are they afraid of?”
Make no mistake about it, this proposed resolution is actually a Constitutional amendment and Article 73 of the Constitution clearly lays out the only way to amend the Constitution, and this resolution fails to meet the test. Each and every MNGA member has an obligation to uphold the Constitution – our paramount law. To knowingly ignore that obligation and vote in favour of this invalid resolution would be a serious breach.
“I want to be very clear”, said Ms. Morin Dal Col. “When you are trying to apply a whole new meaning to a key Article of our Constitution – a meaning that does not align at all with the actual wording of the Article, you are in effect trying to make a change to the Constitution, but the Constitution can only be changed by a 75% vote of our Citizens at an AGM. What this group is trying to do is circumvent the process through this resolution and a vote at the MNGA, so that our MNBC Citizens can’t have the opportunity to vote on it.”
Ms. Morin Dal Col said, “Every MNBC Citizen needs to contact their Community President and remind them of their obligation to uphold the Constitution and tell them this resolution should be soundly defeated at the MNGA because it fails to follow the proper process for what is in effect an attempt to amend the Constitution.”
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