The Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis Community has unveiled a new food security initiative. The goal of the project, launched on the eve of the 20 th anniversary of the landmark Powley Decision, is to identify and close food-related gaps faced by M\u00e9tis citizens in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt its heart, the Powley case was about a M\u00e9tis community\u2019s inherent right to feed and care for its families,\u201d says Regional Councillor Mitch Case. \u201cTwenty years later, we still face many challenges to ensuring that every M\u00e9tis family has access to healthy and nutritious foods, including the traditional foods that our community historically relied upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Case has received numerous calls and messages from Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis Citizens sharing their concerns about how inflation, climate change, and other factors are making it increasingly difficult to meet their food-related needs. These issues were made even worse by the Covid pandemic and are often felt most by M\u00e9tis citizens who already face cost-of-living challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we hear is that it\u2019s our M\u00e9tis elders and families with young children that are facing the greatest food security challenges,\u201d adds Case. \u201cAs a M\u00e9tis government, it\u2019s our duty to work to meet the needs of our citizens\u2014especially when mainstream programs and services are falling short. We are committed to doing just that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first step, Case says, is to collect accurate M\u00e9tis-specific regional food security data that paints the full picture of Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis citizens\u2019 food-related needs, including where the needs are greatest. To do so, the community has released its first-ever Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis Food Sovereignty Survey. The survey was designed using the Canadian Community Health Survey, which will enable apples-to-apples data comparison with broader regional and national benchmarks. However, the survey also includes many additional components that examine unique aspects of M\u00e9tis food-related culture and practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe leadership in the Region believe in evidence-based decision making,\u201d explains Case. \u201cWe need to know the challenges and barriers M\u00e9tis citizens are facing. But we also need to know where the strengths are\u2014what knowledge and skills our citizens have, what food-related equipment they already own, and how we can best help the Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis Community achieve its food sovereignty vison.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ultimate goal is for Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis citizens themselves to identify the highest priority needs and opportunities that can guide future community investments, such as those in community food programs, land, food-related equipment, or skills development. \u201cWe know we don\u2019t have the resources to do all the things we want to,\u201d adds Case. \u201cGathering as much data as we can from as many M\u00e9tis citizens as we can will help us make the best possible decisions about how to invest for the entire community\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any verified M\u00e9tis Nation of Ontario citizen living within the Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis Community can complete the survey at https:\/\/bit.ly\/region4foodsurvey before September 30 and be instantly entered to win dozens of prizes, including a Bradley Original 4-Rack Electric Smoker, Excalibur 9-Tray Food Dehydrator, and gift cards to Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis businesses.<\/p>\n
The Huron-Superior Regional M\u00e9tis Community (M\u00e9tis Nation of Ontario \u2013 Region 4) includes the M\u00e9tis Nation of Ontario citizens in the area from Sault Ste. Marie, east to Massey and Sault Ste. Marie, north to White River inclusive. Citizens are represented at the local level by the Historic Sault Ste. Marie M\u00e9tis Council and the North Channel M\u00e9tis Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Huron-Superior M\u00e9tis Community has unveiled a new food security initiative. The goal of the project, launched on the eve of the 20 th anniversary of the landmark Powley Decision, is to identify and close food-related gaps faced by M\u00e9tis citizens in the region. \u201cAt its heart, the Powley case was about a M\u00e9tis community\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 21:25:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62475"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62476,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62475\/revisions\/62476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}