Cassidy Caron, President of the Métis National Council, grew up with a passion for Métis culture, history, and politics in equal measures. Raised in an area of British Columbia with limited exposure to Métis communities, but with a deep family heritage in Batoche, Saskatchewan — famous for the Métis resistance led by Louis Riel in 1885 — Caron entered the political realm at a very early age. By the time she was 24, Caron was serving as the Minister of Youth for the Métis Nation of British Columbia. In 2021, when she was just 29, Caron took the huge step of running for the MNC presidency, fittingly journeying to her family’s roots of Saskatchewan for a General Assembly, where she became the first woman ever elected to that role. Audrey Poitras, now retired as the President of the Métis Nation of Alberta, had served as interim president from 2003 to 2004. 

In her wide-ranging discussion with host David Wylynko, Caron discusses her Métis heritage, her election, negotiating agreements on behalf of the Métis with political representatives of Canada at the highest levels, and major accomplishments in the short span of her tenure. One of the biggest challenges Caron is embracing currently is passage of federal legislation, Bill C-53, affirming Métis self-governing rights in Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. The Bill delivers on commitments made in self-government recognition and implementation agreements that were co-developed and signed in 2023. These agreements formally recognize that Métis governments in these provinces possess an inherent right to self-government as recognized in the Constitution Act of 1982. They also discuss bridging lingering divisions among Métis, the legacy of Métis leaders from Riel to Jim Sinclair, and Caron’s thoughtful agenda for the future.

Resources

The True Canadians website

Intro and outro music by Métis musician Alex Kusturok

Opening quote from an address by Métis leader Jim Sinclair during the 1987 Canadian constitutional talks