Manitoba Court Rejects Huge Metis Land Claim
"Everyone recognizes that Metis people were swindled out of their land. The question is who's responsible for that swindling,"
Karen Busby
Law Professor
University of Manitoba
In 1870, Metis residents -- nervous about the Dominion of Canada's plan to acquire the territory and establish the province of Manitoba -- agreed to the Manitoba Act. The Act promised that 1.4 million acres of land be set aside for Metis children and that occupied land along the rivers was left alone.
The lawsuit was based on claims that the province of Manitoba facilitated land transfers between the Metis and prospectors between 1877 and 1885. The Manitoba Metis Federation estimated that 85 per cent of the promised land was never received, annexed or bought out by prospectors.
From CTV News
... and from CBC News
