Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty Act

This bill puts into legal effect a treaty signed in November 2024 between the Government of Canada and the Red River Métis (represented by the Manitoba Métis Federation), recognizing their right to self-government. Once this law is in force, the treaty and a related tax treatment agreement become legally binding, have the force of law, and take priority over other federal laws if there is any conflict. Courts must automatically recognize the treaty, the tax agreement, and laws made by the Red River Métis government, without requiring formal proof of their existence in each case.

The bill also sets up some practical mechanics for this new relationship: it confirms this is a constitutionally protected treaty under sections 25 and 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982; it allows the Federal Court to review certain administrative decisions made by the Manitoba Métis Federation once internal appeal processes are exhausted; it exempts Red River Métis laws from the usual federal rules governing regulations; and it lets the federal Cabinet make additional orders or regulations to implement the treaty, while requiring meaningful collaboration with the Manitoba Métis Federation in developing those rules. Actions taken by the Federation before the treaty formally took effect are treated as valid under the treaty where they would have qualified.

Finally, the bill makes minor updates to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act so that the Manitoba Métis Federation is treated similarly to other Indigenous governments under those laws' information-sharing and disclosure rules. It also includes a coordinating provision: if a separate bill (C-10, creating a Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation) also becomes law, the Red River Métis treaty will be added to that Commissioner's list of treaties to oversee.

This bill gives legal force to the Red River Métis Self-Government Recognition and Implementation Treaty and its associated tax treatment agreement, and makes the Treaty's provisions override conflicting federal law.

• Legal supremacy of the Treaty — where the Treaty conflicts with this Act or any other federal law, the Treaty prevails; where this Act conflicts with other federal law (apart from the Treaty), this Act prevails.
• Self-government powers — the Manitoba Métis Federation and other persons or bodies named in the Treaty hold whatever powers, rights and privileges the Treaty confers on them, and are bound by whatever duties and liabilities it imposes, with no powers listed in this Act itself — the content is set entirely by the Treaty text.
• Red River Métis laws — laws made by the Manitoba Métis Federation under the Treaty are exempted from the Statutory Instruments Act, meaning they are not registered, published, or scrutinized the way federal regulations are; courts must nonetheless take judicial notice of them (treat them as established law without proof).
• Judicial review — the Federal Court may review administrative decisions made by the Manitoba Métis Federation under a Red River Métis law, but only after all appeal or review routes set out in that Métis law have been exhausted first.
• Regulation-making power — the Governor in Council (Cabinet) may make any orders or regulations it considers necessary to carry out the Treaty, this Act, the tax treatment agreement, or any related implementation agreement, with no stated limit on scope; Cabinet must give the Manitoba Métis Federation an opportunity to collaborate in developing the policy behind such regulations, but the nature of that collaboration is not defined.
• Access and privacy law changes — the Manitoba Métis Federation is added to the lists of bodies covered by information-sharing and confidentiality provisions in the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, and to the schedule of the future Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation Act (Bill C-10) if that bill also becomes law.