![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6603397.1720795132!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
2 bodies believed to be from B.C. wash ashore Sable Island, N.S.
Nova Scotia RCMP say a boat containing the bodies of two people believed to be from British Columbia washed ashore the Sable Island National Park Reserve earlier this week.
Metis organizations in Ontario and Alberta say they'll stay on the path toward self-government, despite the uncertain future of a contentious bill meant to do just that.
The Metis Nation — Saskatchewan withdrew its support Wednesday for federal legislation designed to recognize Metis governments in the province, as well as in Alberta and Ontario.
President Glen McCallum said the legislation is holding the group back, and its members made the decision to pull support after a meeting with his council.
The bill has faced fierce opposition from the Assembly of First Nations and academics, while the Metis Nations of Ontario and Alberta have both publicly and privately defended it, saying the entire process has been riddled with misinformation.
McCallum stood by the decision to withdraw Thursday,saying the group would continue working with the federal government to create a separate self-government structure in Saskatchewan.
Public debates about the bill have raged on, while a recent Federal Court decision cited a number of flaws with the Metis Nation of Alberta's agreement with Ottawa.
"We have to take into account our citizens and what they expect from us and our government," McCallum said. "And that's what we did — that's why we broke away from Bill C-53."
The Metis Nations of Alberta and Ontario said in a statement Wednesday they respect the choice of Metis governments to choose their own pathways, and wish the Saskatchewan group well as it steers its own ship.
Bill C-53, as it is known in Ottawa, has been through a lengthy House of Commons committee process and subject to extensive and often heated public debate.
First Nations chiefs in Ontario have accused the federal government of overstepping its jurisdiction, saying the legislation steps on their rights. The Assembly of First Nations, which represents some 630 chiefs across Canada, passed a resolution calling for the federal government to kill the legislation altogether.
The Alberta and Ontario groups say the lengthy process to make the bill law has been unfair, delayed, disrespectful and demoralizing, and that it has encouraged division between their groups and other Metis and First Nations communities.
"We have seen Metis youth, citizens and elders insulted, denied, and harassed based on misinformation and misconceptions," a joint statement from the two provincial organizations said.
"It has allowed opponents to deny our very existence and rights, and even the attempted erasure of our lived experiences, history and identity."
But given the support they have from their communities, the Metis Nations of Alberta and Ontario say they'll continue to work with the federal government and ensure their self-government is respected and upheld.
The Metis National Council, of which all three provincial organizations are a member, offered a brief expression of support Thursday.
"This means supporting each of our Metis governments in their shared priorities, which includes Metis self-government implementation, through their unique self-determined pathways to achieving them," the council said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the federal minister of Crown-Indigenous relations also vowed to keep working with the organizations, but wouldn't comment on the future of the bill.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2024.
— With files from Kelly Malone in Saskatoon
Nova Scotia RCMP say a boat containing the bodies of two people believed to be from British Columbia washed ashore the Sable Island National Park Reserve earlier this week.
Pierre Poilievre says NATO allies treated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau like a human pinata at the leaders' summit this week — but he still won't commit to the alliance's spending goal.
Three men across Ontario are speaking out after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a cryptocurrency investment scam, including one man in Brampton who lost $226,000.
With calls for Joe Biden to step down growing louder, many believe the U.S. president's press conference on Thursday was a 'make-or-break' moment.
A truck driver found a 1-year-old alive in a ditch off an interstate highway in Louisiana this week, a day after the boy’s 4-year-old brother was found dead near the same freeway in what investigators think was a case of abandonment around the time tropical storm conditions hit the area, authorities said.
A youth who disappeared during a flash flood in Wolfville, N.S., Thursday night has died.
One person has been hospitalized after falling from a swing ride at Canada's Wonderland.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have added a tiny bit of fuel to the fire surrounding their marriage. Amid speculation that the pair are struggling in their relationship after marrying about two years ago, the couple has listed their 12-bedroom, 24-bathroom California home for sale.
A black bear accidentally got locked in a car in Coquitlam Thursday, destroying the interior before being freed by police.
A rare ammonite fossil – about 75 million years old - has been discovered in eastern Saskatchewan.
Seven-year-old goalie Hudson Hardill is an unlikely Calgary Flames fan, being that he lives in Peterborough, Ont., and his dad Chris is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.
A WestJet employee's chance encounter on a recent flight spiced up her life in a big way.
A Kelowna, B.C., man says he's always liked gnomes because they have a 'bit of mystery' to them. And he recently got a taste of that whimsy when his garden gnomes disappeared, and came back to him in a peculiar fashion.
After more than 50 years, Toronto's iconic 'Leslieville dollhouse' will soon have a new owner.
One man is bringing a blast from the past to a Winnipeg community.
Some say a photograph is simply a memory frozen in time – and a high school graduation photo taken in Churchill, Man. takes that adage to a completely new level.
A rising track and field star overcame a big hurdle in his dream to represent Canada at the Olympics.
Would-be homebuyers who backed out of a deal to purchase a B.C. property in a hot real estate market have been ordered to pay the seller the difference between what they offered and what he was able to sell the home for when the market cooled.