Court sides with Manitoba on quashed MMF deal
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/03/2020 (1701 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Manitoba court has upheld the provincial government’s decision to quash a drafted deal with the Manitoba Metis Federation surrounding a hydroelectric line to Minnesota.
The Progressive Conservative government’s Manitoba Hydro board resigned en masse in March 2018, after Premier Brian Pallister refused to approve the compensation agreement for the MMF.
The $67.5-million deal would have had the MMF not contesting some of the Crown corporation’s projects, including a transmission line to Minnesota now nearing completion.
At the time, Pallister called the deal “hush money,” as it wasn’t compensation for lost land or specific damages. The agreement built on a deal signed by the previous NDP government.
MMF president David Chartrand argued the drafted deal was the best way to avoid a lengthy court process to define Métis land rights in the Red River Valley, especially pertaining to future projects around Winnipeg.
In court, the MMF argued pulling out of the agreement violated the Crown’s duty to negotiate with Indigenous people in good faith.
Yet, a Monday ruling in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench found the provincial cabinet was within its rights to oversee Crown corporation decisions, including those regarding spending and Indigenous relations.
Chief Justice Glenn Joyal cited those reasons in saying an early 2018 directive, used later that year to kibosh the drafted deal, was lawful.
“It is in fact a lawful exercise of cabinet’s statutory authority to enforce its stewardship role over Hydro,” Joyal wrote.
He also ruled the case did not put in jeopardy “the honour of the Crown,” which is the duty of governments to negotiate in good faith with Indigenous people. Joyal ruled the original deal wasn’t about Aboriginal rights, nor was it a modern-day treaty.
The court did not opine on the Hydro board resignations.
Pallister said Tuesday the court ruling validates his government’s handling of Hydro projects, which he said includes hearing local concerns.
“We don’t engage in the purchase of the rights of Métis children yet unborn,” Pallister said, arguing the former NDP government was “using Manitoba Hydro as an ATM to buy friends.”
Chartrand rejected the characterization.
“We’re appealing it, for sure,” he told the Free Press. “We’re going through (the ruling) and I’m bringing in a bunch of lawyers.”
— with files from Larry Kusch
dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Queen's Bench ruling on MMF and Hydro deal
