On Wednesday, February 13th the BC Métis Federation sent a letter to the Métis public about serious questions related the Joanne Dumont, who is the also wife of current Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) President Bruce Dumont. BC Métis Federation was surprised to learn that Joanne was approved for tuition and book support of $5,200.00 last November 2012 according to MNBC’s documentation.

Late Friday, February 15th, 2013 MNBC released a public statement under the title “Keith Henry Puts Himself and His Board at Legal Risk for Breaching an Individual’s Right to Protection of Privacy.” MNBC once again makes public statements and appears to be threatening legal action against BC Métis Federation and myself as President. Despite the public rhetoric I can confirm that MNBC has not contacted me in any manner requesting any action. Furthermore any such request will be ignored as the privacy legislation quoted by MNBC is specific to an individual’s personal information such as health care number, social insurance number, birth certification, etc. The documentation provided by BC Métis Federation regarding Joanne Dumont did not have any personal information of any sort and therefore the suggestion and threats by MNBC is unfounded.

The BC Métis Federation did not compromise any private information from MNBC. The documentation was sent by fax from an anonymous source to the BC Métis Federation and therefore this continues to showcase how unsecure anyone`s private information is within MNBC. In fact Joanne should file a complaint to the MNBC Privacy Officer about the manner in which MNBC systems can even allow for such information to get out of their offices as clearly there appears to be many ways secure client information can be obtained and shared. The question is how many other MNBC clients have personal information has been shared?

The fact is this latest MNBC action once again showcases the incompetence of this dysfunctional organization. The response is only because this situation involves the MNBC President and his wife and in fact proves that Joanne did get MNBC funding and the real question is why? Is she Métis and how did she qualify for $5200.00 in financial support while so many others have been turned away? The MNBC press release is to divert your attention from the real questions and there is no doubt the level of public interests and accountability outweigh the political corruption of MNBC President Bruce Dumont and his wife Joanne given their roles within MNBC.

I can assure the Métis public that the BC Métis Federation board met Friday evening and we are unanimous in our stand to demand that the Métis public has a right to know about this latest MNBC scandal. The Federal Government, through the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Honourable Diane Finley should immediately enforce an independent investigation considering the importance of the public interests in this matter.
Ironically BC Métis Federation has defined our concerns over the past years about 6 issues; one was the use by MNBC of legal counsel to sue Métis people. MNBC once again showcased on Friday by their response that this will be the MNBC tactic when hard questions or asked regardless of the situation. Instead of admitting about the situation, President Dumont is unable to show leadership in the interest of the community. The MNBC response appears to claim MNBC will again use government funding to take further legal action as a diversion and to distort the truth. This all the while MNBC cannot pay their bills and debt grows. I believe this is the least of their worries. Thank you for all of the support and comments this past weekend in response to MNBC’s latest press release. Clearly Métis people feel this is an important issue and we call of the Federal Government to address without delay. The political use of program funding is undeniable and when will this situation ever stop?

I can assure the Métis public that BC Métis Federation will not stop until this situation is fully resolved.

Thank you,
Keith Henry
President

Cc Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Alison Olney, Service Manager, BC Aboriginal Programs
Honourable James Moore, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Minister Ida Chong, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
Assistant Deputy Minister Peter Cunningham, Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation

Enclosures
MNBC Press Release Dated February 15th, 2013
BC Métis Federation letter dated February 13th, 2013
MNBC Documents

[ilink url=”/wp-content/uploads/BCMF-Letter-to-Metis-People-February-18th-2013-Response-to-MNBC.pdf” style=”download”]Download this Letter in PDF format[/ilink]
[ilink url=”/wp-content/uploads/BCMF-Letter-to-Metis-People-February-13th-2013-MNBC-Political-Programs-FINAL.pdf” style=”download”]BCMF Letter to Metis People February 13th, 2013[/ilink]