On November 16, 2004, the Métis Nation of Ontario and Chiefs of Ontario signed a historic Political Protocol Agreement.
The Agreement was created in recognition that, “First Nations and Métis peoples within Ontario have a history of respecting and recognizing each others interests, as well as, working in partnership and cooperation, as neighbours and relations, in support of each others interests and aspirations”.
Its purpose was to, “affirm mutual respect, recognition and support for the respective rights, interests and aspirations of First Nations and the Métis Nation within Ontario” and to, “facilitate government-to-government relationships between Ontario First Nations and the Métis Nation within Ontario”.
The Political Protocol Agreement was signed after the MNO’s 2003 Supreme Court of Canada victory in Powley, which affirmed the constitutionally protected S.35 harvesting rights of the historic Sault Ste. Marie Métis Community. Its signing also came just months after the MNO’s historic Interim Harvesting Agreement with the Province of Ontario, which included the MNO’s 2004 Harvesting Agreement Map that transparently detailed where historic Métis communities existed in parts of Ontario and where the MNO supported Métis rights related assertions.
It was signed by MNO President Tony Belcourt and Ontario Regional Chief Charles Fox.
The Chiefs of Ontario abruptly withdrew from the Political Protocol Agreement in 2010, without any prior conversation with the MNO.