A pair of suspended Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) regional directors are not backing down from their fight with the organization.
On Tuesday, Sherry McLennan and Wendy Gervais were barred from the room at the Dakota Dunes conference centre south of Saskatoon where newly elected members of the MN-S government were being sworn in. They arrived to find the agenda already listed them as “not in attendance.”
The two regional directors were both re-elected in the MN-S election on May 24 — McLennan in Western Region 2 and Gervais in Western Region 3.
McLennan and Gervais were barred from attending meetings of the Provincial Métis Council (PMC) after a harassment complaint against them and two other people.
The two regional directors said they are limited in what they can publicly share about the process, but that they didn’t receive due process and the PMC has no right to bar them from their governance roles.
“The constitution of the Métis-Nation Saskatchewan is very clear,” Gervais said Thursday, standing beside McLennan at a news conference in Prince Albert that was packed with about 100 supporters. “Regional representatives hold constitutionally protected roles, and there is no mechanism that allows for our removal without due process.
“Further, as our legal counsel has noted, any attempt to remove us must originate from the citizens of our regions, not from political actors behind closed doors.”
MN-S responded with a statement.
“The complaint was the culmination of the ongoing harassment of the PMC’s sole employee, MN–S Chief Executive Officer Richard Quintal, by McLennan, Gervais, and two other previously elected individuals,” the statement said.
“In response to the CEO’s complaint, the four individuals filed counter complaints against the CEO.”
MN-S said an investigation into the complaints sided with Quintal and that his human rights had been violated.
The investigator also said the four counter-claims were unfounded and “they will not be permitted to attend any PMC meetings until such apology is provided.”
At the time, McLennan, Gervais and the other two people accused of harassment said in a statement that they were “unilaterally sanctioned” and that the harassment investigation was “improperly conducted.”
On Thursday, McLennan laid some actions they want MN-S leadership to commit to:
- Acknowledge procedural failings in the handling of the complaint.
- Commit to an approach that respects the rights and dignity of all complainants, especially women.
- Ensure that the harassment complaints are taking seriously and reinvestigated through a fair, independent and respectful process.
- Guarantee that all future investigations adhere strictly to the policy, including mutual agreement on a third-party investigator and timelines that allow for safe and supported participation.
- Reaffirm a commitment to the safety and inclusion of Métis women within all levels of the MN-S.
- Restore McLennan and Gervais’s seats at the table immediately and allow them to take their oaths of office.
Gervais said this controversy is bigger than the suspension.
“This is about the integrity of our governance, about the right of elected representatives to do their job they were chosen to do, about ensuring that Métis women are no longer silenced for speaking up, and that internal grievances, however valid they are, are handled through fair and culturally respectful processes, not through political punishment.”
McLennan said the suspensions are an attempt to stifle their voices.
“I believe my voice has been shut out because I’m a woman and I really support my Western Region 2 and I bring their voices to the table,” McLennan said.
The MN-S response statement said the sanctions against the women will remain in effect until they publicly apologize.
MN–S president Glen McCallum said it is a human rights issue.
“One of our staff was harassed in a very public forum and our government prides itself on being able to provide a safe work environment, free of that kind of treatment by elected [officials] or otherwise, and have taken the necessary steps to address the situation,” he said.
