Is the Metis community at Sault Ste. Marie a “Metis people” by themselves?
No. The Court only decided that the Metis community at Sault Ste. Marie has an existing right to hunt protected by s. 35. In fact, the Court explicitly said that it did not decide “whether this community [Sault Ste. Marie] is also a Metis “people”, or whether it forms part of a larger people that extends over a wider area….The Metis Nation maintains its position that it is a distinct Aboriginal people in Canada recognized in s. 35. Sault Ste. Marie and other Metis communities throughout the historic Metis Nation Homeland are a part of the larger Metis Nation. These communities share a common history, language, way of life, culture and kinship connections to form a distinct “people” based on international law standards.
