Métis Nation of Ontario Statement: Federal Court Strikes First Nation Challenge to Métis Self-Government Agreement
On June 26, 2026, the Federal Court released its judgment in Brunswick House First Nation et al v Canada and the MNO, 2026 FC 869. This case was a legal challenge advanced by six First Nations in northeastern Ontario (Brunswick House, Chapleau Ojibwe, Flying Post, Matachewan, Mattagami, and Beaverhouse First Nations) against Canada and Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) for entering into the Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Agreement (MGRSIA) on February 23, 2023.
In its 71-page reasons for judgement, the Court concluded the MNO’s “motion to strike the [First Nations’] Amended Application for Judicial Review is granted.” While the First Nations were granted leave to amend their application with respect to their honour of the Crown claims, those amendments must be consistent with the Court’s reasons that confirm the MGRSIA only deals with the MNO’s internal self-government rights as a Métis government, not harvesting or land related rights as the First Nations alleged.
The Court found that the First Nations’ claim was based on an “unfounded interpretation of what the [MSGRIA] may do rather than on the unambiguous provisions in the [MSGRIA] itself of what it will do.” The Court held “the [MSGRIA], and the decision to enter into it, do not recognize or grant the MNO and its citizens any territorial land-based rights in the [First Nations] traditional territory”—“there is nothing in the Crown conduct of deciding to enter into the [MSGRIA] that had the potential to adversely affect the [First Nations’] Section 35 Rights based on the [MSGRIA] and its content.”
The Court also recognized “the purpose of the [MGRSIA] is to contribute to the implementation of UNDRIP as it relates to … the “Métis Communities Represented by the MNO’s” inherent right to self-determination, including the right of self-government, and to support, advance, and recognize that collectivity’s ongoing exercise of its inherent right of self-government recognized and affirmed by Section 35 based upon Canada’s constitutional responsibility to advance relationships with Indigenous Peoples and to engage in negotiations to recognize and delineate Métis Rights.”
“The MNO welcomes the clarity the Federal Court has provided in confirming what we have always said — Canada’s recognition of the MNO’s self-government rights does not impact or harm the land related rights of First Nations in Ontario. These rights co-exist in Ontario, like how our communities and First Nations have co-existed together for generations,” said MNO President Margaret Froh.
President Froh concluded, “Ontario remains the home of the only Supreme Court decision — R. v. Powley — that has confirmed the existence of Métis rights protected by s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The Powley case, and rights-bearing Métis communities in northern Ontario and areas surrounding the Upper Great Lakes, are not going anywhere. The MNO — as a federally recognized Métis government — is not going anywhere. It is time to talk, not to continue to issue false and hurtful press statements or simply to the courts. The MNO’s door is always open for constructive dialogue.”