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Submitted by: Joanne Meyer, MNO Director of Intergovernmental Relations

CAMA conference
The MNO participants at the CAMA conference.
Back row (L-R) Andy Lefebvre, MNO Mineral
Development Coordinator; Kevin Muloin, MNO
Consultation Coordinator; Roger Rose,
MNO Mattawa Métis Council Chair;
Trent Desaulniers,MNO Superior North Shore
Métis Council President; and, Ernie Gatien,
Region 4 PCMNO Councillor.Front row (L-R)
Joanne Meyer, MNO Director of
Intergovernmental Relations; Juliette Denis,
Region 5 PCMNO Councillor, and
Joyceline Rose, MNO Mattawa Métis Council
Women’s Representative.

The 22nd Canadian Aboriginal Minerals Association (CAMA) conference took place in Toronto from November 16-18, 2014. CAMA is an Aboriginal, non-profit organization that seeks to increase the understanding of the minerals industry, Aboriginal mining and Aboriginal communities’ paramount interests in lands and resources.

The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) had several delegates at the conference, including MNO Regional Councillors from Regions 1-5 and Nicholas Callahan from Region 5 who participated on the CAMA Youth Panel.

This year was the first time in the history of CAMA that the MNO had a presence on the agenda. On November 18, 2014, Jason Madden, MNO General Counsel, led a workshop on Best Practices in Métis Consultation and Accommodation. Topics included:

  • Métis Consultation and Accommodation: A Cross Canada Update
  • Métis and Mining: What’s Happening
  • Challenges and Best Practices
  • Metis Rights and Legal Issues
  • Emerging Issues and Trends

CAMA aboriginal pavilion
Joanne Meyer, MNO Director of
Intergovernmental Relations and Vice Chair of
the Aboriginal Leadership Partners (ALP) and
Larry Frost, Executive Director of the Native
Canadian Centre and Chair of the ALP, at the
launch of the Aboriginal Pavilion on
November 18, 2014 at the Fort York
Visitor Centre.

During the CAMA conference, the new logo for the Aboriginal Pavilion at the upcoming Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Game was unveiled. The Aboriginal Pavilion will offer diverse performances, demonstrations, commissions and activities to celebrate and share the Indigenous cultures of the Americas at 3 locations across the city: the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT), Garrison Commons (adjacent to Fort York) and Planet IndigenUs at Harbourfront Centre.