The Métis Nation of Ontario
Métis Veterans Honoured with Golden Jubilee Medals

Sept. 30/02 (EDMONTON) - Twenty veterans were awarded Golden Jubilee Medals in Edmonton, AB last weekend as a part of an awards ceremony held in honour of all Métis Veterans on Friday September 27, 2002.

The Métis National Council was provided with 20 Golden Jubilee Medals by the Governor General of Canada, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Her Majesty’s reign. The Métis National Council chose to award the medals to 20 Métis veterans. The veterans accepted the awards on behalf of themselves and their fellow Métis veterans across Canada.

In his speech, Bruce Flamont, President of the National Métis Veterans Association stated:

“Although we have been shunned by Canadians, we as Métis veterans have been full-filled today. Our comrades have said to me that they have enough pride now that they can go home and rest in peace with just what happened here today."

“We are involved in a very major political struggle in Canada. Canada has not been able to fully appreciate the efforts of the Métis people. And shame on them. But I want to remind us of the irony and of the coincidence that while Canada cannot recognize us, I want everybody to know that from the bottom of our hearts as Métis veterans, that the type of recognition that we are receiving today from amongst our own brothers and sisters that we fought and died for goes a long way.

“It is impossible or very difficult for Canada to give the proper, the honourable and the dignified recognition to us that compares to other veterans in Canada without accepting the existence of the Métis Nation of today. It’s the same Nation that Sir John A Macdonald fought against in 1885. So some comparisons can be made between the plight of the Métis Nation and the plight of the Métis veteran. And it is a direct result of Canada’s inability to recognize its original citizens, the Métis people.”

Métis veterans launched a lawsuit against the Government of Canada on August 8th, 2002 for its negligence in failing to ensure Métis veterans were afforded the same benefits and allowances other veterans had received. Métis veterans were not included in the recent decision to afford compensation to First Nations veterans on similar grounds.

In its Statement of Claim, the lawsuit attests: “The Defendant was a fiduciary to the Plaintiffs and that the Defendant breached it fiduciary duty by failing to provide benefits, and/or information and assistance regarding benefits, to Métis veterans and their families.”

Those honoured with medals were:

Valerie Stewart
Dunville, Ontario.
Served with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps.

Marion Larkman
Bewdley, Ontario.
Served in Canada during WWII (Kingston).

Ralph Earl Scofield
Windsor, Ontario.
Served in Germany, Holland and France.

William (Bill) Ellis
Penetanguishene, Ontario.
Served in the Canadian Infantry, drafted overseas.

Dale Lamoureux
Grand Marias, Manitoba. Served from 1958 – 1979 in the Belgian Congo, Syria, Isreal, Egypt and West Germany.

Paul Thomas
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Served in WWII with the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps, 5th Division.

Frank Sr. Godon
Boissevain, Manitoba. Served in Canada with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles and in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

Darwin Hansen
Mafeking, Manitoba. Served with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2002 attack.

Morris Poitras
Regina, Saskatchewan. Served in Italy, England, Sicily, France, Germany and Holland.

Solomon Goulet
Cumberland House, Saskatchewan. Served with the Cameron Highlanders (Ottawa) and in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Luxembourg.

Louis Roy
Beauville, Saskatchewan. Served in England, Africa, Sicily and Italy.

Max Lucier
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Served in Belgium, France, Holland and Germany.

Robert Berard
Edmonton, Alberta. Served in WWII in Germany, Holland, France and Italy.

Victor Letendre
Edmonton, Alberta. Calgary, Highlanders Infantry – Served in WWII in France, Belgium, Holland and England.

Bertha Clark-Jones
Athabasca, Alberta. Served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Women’s Division.

Lloyd Poitras
Elk Point, Alberta. Served in France, Holland and Belguim.Allen Alexander Derouin
Vancouver, British Columbia. Served in Sweden and Korea.

William (Bill) Regan
Prince George, British Columbia. Saskatoon Light Infantry – served 4 years in Sicily and Italy.

Frank Edward Camp
Ucuelet, British Columbia. Served with the RCNVR from 1943 – 1945 as an able body seaman and torpedo man.

Ernest Edmon Fiddler
Fort St. John, British Columbia. Served in France, Holland and Germany.