Believe in Métis – Securing the Future
Introduction
This platform is built on a single, unifying principle: securing the future of the Red River Métis by protecting and enhancing what has been built over three decades of dedicated leadership. It is not about starting over – it is about safeguarding our government, our institutions, our economic footprint, and our rights so that future generations inherit a strong, self-sustaining nation. This platform reflects a commitment to continuity, resilience, and the long-term security of our citizens.
Fulfilling Canada’s Unkept Promises
Treaty, Land Claim, and Section 35 Protections
The completion and ratification of our modern treaty will remain the top priority of your government. A treaty is not merely a document – it is a permanent, constitutionally protected promise that secures our programs, our funding mechanisms, and our jurisdictional authority against future political disruption.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will:
- Treaty Completion: prioritize the finalization of our treaty to ensure that the promises made in 1870 are honoured in full, providing a legal fortress around Red River Métis rights and self-government.
- Negotiate the Land Claim: push Canada to settle the 2013 MMF v. Canada Land Claim and ensure that the economic headstart that our Nation was denied in 1870 is realized through strategic investment and new programs.
- Section 35 Rights Protection: defend and assert our Section 35 harvesting, hunting, and natural resource rights across all jurisdictions, ensuring that these rights are recognized not only in principle but in enforceable practice.
- Rights-Based Advocacy: continue to challenge any entity—governmental or otherwise—that seeks to diminish, ignore, or interfere with our constitutionally entrenched rights, standing firm against misinformation and opposition from any quarter.
- Language Protection and Promotion: expand resources and extend programs to French-speaking Red River Métis Citizens and revitalize the Michif language.
Generational Investments in Your Future
Securing Our Economic Future Through Red River Métis Ownership
True self-government requires economic independence. We are committed to expanding and securing the economic footprint of the Red River Métis so that our government is not dependent on the political whims of federal or provincial administrations.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will:
- Signature Investment in Renewable Energy: finalize the historic acquisition of a wind power company, valued at approximately half a billion dollars. This represents one of the largest purchase agreements in our history and is a major step forward from previous investments.
- Long-Term Benefits and Job Creation: leverage our investments to create a pathway to stable jobs for Red River Métis people for years and decades to come.
- Financial Security: secure major asset ownership in rural Manitoba and continue to revitalize downtown Winnipeg, ensuring economic benefits and pride for all Red River Métis people.
- Multi-Partner Collaboration: continue to build relationships with First Nations, other Indigenous governments, private industry, and international partners—demonstrating that the Red River Métis is a confident, capable, and sought-after partner in any economic endeavor.
Education & Knowledge Sovereignty
Controlling Our Future Through Learning
- Post-Secondary & Bursary Expansion: continue to expand financial support for Red River Métis students pursuing trades, college, and university education, with the goal of increasing accessibility and reducing barriers to graduation.
- Red River Métis-Centered Learning Environments: advance the creation of Red River Métis-led educational institutions – beginning with virtual and alternative schooling models – that deliver certified, high-quality curriculum while grounding students in Red River Métis culture and community.
- Provincial Education Accountability: demand that the Province of Manitoba develop and implement a dedicated Red River Métis education strategy, ending the era in which Red River Métis students and schools are treated as an afterthought within broader First Nations-focused frameworks.
- Lifelong Learning & Professional Development: support continuous education and upskilling for Red River Métis adults, with particular attention to women entering non-traditional trades and leadership roles.
Child, Family & Elder Care
Strengthening the Red River Métis Family Unit
Policy Statement: The Red River Métis is only as strong as its families. We will protect and expand programs that support parents, nurture children, and honour our elders – ensuring that every generation is cared for and empowered.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will:
- Early Childhood & Childcare: continue to expand access to affordable, culturally safe childcare and early learning programs, enabling parents (particularly mothers) to pursue careers, education, and economic participation without sacrificing family wellbeing.
- Family Wellness, Support, & Affordability: strengthen wraparound services for Red River Métis families, including mental health supports, food security, and programs that keep children connected to family, community, and culture.
- Elder Protection & Dignity: uphold our sacred responsibility to protect and support our senior citizens and elders, ensuring they have access to housing, healthcare, cultural programming, and financial security in their later years.
Harvesting, Nature & Cultural Conservation
Protecting Our Way of Life and Identity
Policy Statement: Our connection to the land, water, and wildlife is not recreational, it is constitutional, cultural, and essential. We will defend the right of Red River Métis harvesters to feed their families and sustain our traditions.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will:
- Harvesting Rights Recognition: demand that the Province of Manitoba recognize Red River Métis harvesting rights via clear, enforceable policy changes, eliminating the current policy that attempts to criminalize our harvesters for exercising their inherent rights.
- Natural Resource Stewardship: assert Red River Métis co-management authority over lands and resources within our traditional territory, ensuring that development decisions respect our environmental and cultural interests.
- Land-Based Education: support and expand on programs that teach traditional harvesting, fishing, and land -based skills to younger generations, preserving knowledge that has sustained our people for centuries.
- Cultural and Identity Preservation: push back against those who try to steal our unique identity by supporting programs educate all Canadians who the Red River Métis are.
Government-to-Government Relations
A Permanent Seat at the Table
Policy Statement: The Red River Métis must be treated as a full, equal government in all its dealings with Canada and Manitoba. We will not accept consultation crumbs – we demand formal, structured, government-to-government relationships.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will:
- A Provincial Accord: push the Province of Manitoba to establish a comprehensive, legally grounded Red River Métis Accord that governs every department’s engagement with our government and our citizens, not just ad hoc meetings, but permanent institutional arrangements.
- Federal Government-to-Government Mechanism: pursue a durable, treaty-based government-to-government mechanism with Canada that outlasts any single administration and guarantees consistent, respectful engagement and enables us to work toward joint-priorities.
- Inter-Nation Collaboration: establish economic, environmental, and political relationships with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit governments and organizations to create a framework for how we can work together toward a better future for future generations.
- Veterans & Crown Relations: ensure that Red River Métis veterans and their families receive the recognition, benefits, and supports they have earned through service, and that reconciliation obligations are met in full by all levels of government.
Democratic Accountability & Institutional Integrity
A Government That Answers to its People Every Day
Policy Statement: Our democracy is not a once-every-four-year event. It is a living, breathing system of accountability that requires transparency, accessibility, and relentless communication between leaders and citizens.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will:
- Continuous Citizen Engagement: maintain and strengthen the structures that allow grassroots Red River Métis citizens to shape policy at local, regional, and national levels – through assemblies, regional meetings, consultations, and direct communication channels.
- Transparency in Governance: continue to ensure that citizens know how their government operates, how funds are managed, and what priorities are being pursued – through regular public reporting, media engagement, and open dialogue.
- Institutional Safeguards: protect the integrity of our government institutions by embedding checks, balances, and ethical standards that prevent the misuse of power, resources, or authority – ensuring that what has been built cannot be dismantled by bad actors.
- Digital & Media Accessibility: meet citizens where they are, using modern platforms and media to ensure that every Red River Métis citizen (regardless of geography, age, or circumstance) can access information and participate in our democracy.
Continued Growth
A Government that finishes what it starts
Policy Statement: This past term, the MMF continued its unprecedented and unrivaled growth. The Red River Métis own over a million square feet of office space. The Red River Métis own or partner with 11 childcare centres with many more to come. The Red River Métis are in the final stages of being the first and only Métis collectivity to have a signed and ratified Treaty. The Red River Métis are about to be majority owners in Fleury Winds, a windfarm that requires $500 million.
If David Chartrand is re-elected, the MMF will never forget where we came from. We will continue to fulfill the vision of our Elders and Ancestors by investing in economic ventures and social programs that deliver for our Nation. We will finish what we started by building more housing for our families and seniors, investing more in economic and community development, and supporting more of our People to meet their greatest potential.
Closing Statement
This platform is not a wish list. It is a security plan. It recognizes that the Red River Métis have built something extraordinary – a government, an economy, a culture, and a land base that were unimaginable just three decades ago. Our responsibility now is to lock in those gains, to protect them from political volatility, and to pass them forward stronger than we found them. We do not seek to reinvent. We seek to secure. We do not promise the impossible. We promise the permanent. And we ask every Red River Métis citizen to join us in ensuring that the future of our nation is safe, prosperous, and self-determined for generations to come.