Glen McCallum is a Métis politician. He was first elected to serve as President of Métis Nation—Saskatchewan on 27 May 2017 and was re-elected on 29 May 2021. He is from Pinehouse, Saskatchewan.
McCallum served as the area director for Northern Region III from 2012 to 2017. In 2017, McCallum was elected to be President of the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan. During his term as president, McCallum has advanced Métis rights and signed agreements with the Government of Canada, the Government of Saskatchewan, and various municipal governments in Saskatchewan. He has also worked with other Indigenous governments in Saskatchewan to provide programs and supports for the COVID-19 pandemic. He was successful in having government funding restored to the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan after the funding had been pulled in October 2014.
Prior to entering Métis politics, McCallum worked as a counsellor providing addictions and recovery programs in Saskatoon, SK and his home community of Pinehouse.
Professional work Recovery Lake McCallum helped his brother, Leonard, to establish the addictions program at Recovery Lake in 1987, which is located at Muskwa Lake, 20 km west of Pinehouse. The programs at Recovery Lake were grounded in identity, culture, values, and languages, as is based on eight principles: Trust Respect Feeling Caring Tolerance Understanding Acceptance Forgiveness
Building a Nation In 1998, McCallum, working with Dr. Tom Hengen from the University of Saskatchewan, founded Building A Nation Family Healing Centre, Inc. in 1998, and McCallum served as president of Building A Nation and worked as a counsellor associate for 12 years. Building a Nation was a culturally sensitive and competent mental health program located in Saskatoon's west side core neighbourhood. The programs offered at Building a Nation incorporated the Medicine Wheel as a teaching tool, and provided a blend of traditional and western-based support services to the clients. The services provided were in stark contrast to many of the services provided at the time because they recognized the falsehoods of the "Indian problem" narrative and the negative impacts of cultural genocide on Indigenous people though residential schools and attempts at forced assimilation. The services provided included clinical and traditional counselling services, crisis services, personal development programs, as well as assistance programs with child custody, justice system, and social assistance in support of individuals and specific interest groups. Much of the programming was developed to use the Medicine Wheel as a teaching and assessment tool.
In 1999, Building a Nation established a 10-week youth-oriented theatre production program called Circle of Voices that went on to become the Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre (formerly known as the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company). This program was designed to help youth to develop their theatrical talent through story telling, providing healing through art and giving them an opportunity to tell about their struggles towards a healthy lifestyle.
Building a Nation also established the Building A Nation Training Institute, Inc. as a registered private vocational school that provided a counselling training program called Medicine Wheel Counselling and Case Management.
The clientele served by Building a Nation were 90% Indigenous, and there were an estimated 1,000 active client files every year, with an even higher number of people being served thought nuclear and extended family members connected to the individual files.
Northern Village of Pinehouse McCallum served as the Director of Social Development for Pinehouse.
Presidency of Métis Nation—Saskatchewan The governance of the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan has been an ongoing concern that Glen McCallum worked to address, with a goal of ensuring that there is good governance and a strong government.
Leading up to the 2017 general election, "Métis [were] battling Métis, each in the name and for the purported good of Métis Nation – Saskatchewan," with "their genesis in political struggles to control [Métis Nation—Saskatchewan]," "factions each [claiming] the [Métis Nation—Saskatchewan] Constitution and the path of righteousness are on their side," and "[polite] words [were used to] mask less cooperative sentiments." The Hon. Mr. Justice B. Scherman, presiding over a case in 2015, noted that:
McCallum, recognizing that "A president has to work with his government in order for things to move smoothly forward and have a listening ear in planning together in regards to where we go," ran on a platform in 2017 of building good governance, effective administration, and a strong government. Following his election, in his State of the Nation address at the 2018 session of the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly, McCallum said that:
Restoring federal funding and establishing government offices The Métis Nation—Saskatchewan had lost federal funding on 1 November 2014 due to a lack of Provincial Métis Council meetings and the inability to hold a properly and duly called session of the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly. The funding, provided through a Basic Organizational Capacity agreement, was halted until the 2017 general election.
The federal funding was reinstated a few days after the general election, which followed a Métis Nation Legislative Assembly and General Assembly earlier in 2017.
During the period where the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan was without funding, offices were closed, assets had been sold to help cover expenses, and the finances were put under third-party management. A transition team was brought in that included Richard Quintal, a federal official seconded to the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan, and former Saskatchewan MLA and Minister of Health Louise Simard, among others, both of whom remained at Métis Nation—Saskatchewan after the transition period was over to help build strong and accountable governance in the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan government.
Advancing Métis self-government In his role as president, Glen McCallum has worked to advance the rights of Métis, including self-government. During his term as the Area Director for Northern Region III of Métis Nation—Saskatchewan, McCallum was a signatory to the Canada-Metis Nation Accord. Following his election as president, McCallum was a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding on Advancing Reconciliation, the Framework Agreement for Advancing Reconciliation, and the Métis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreement. These agreements establish the process by which the Government of Canada and the Métis Nation negotiate on a nation-to-nation, government-to-government basis on matters such as recognition of Métis rights, addressing unresolved claims and grievances, access resources for programs and service delivery, and advance recognition of self-government.
Following the signing of the Métis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreement, McCallum said:
Land claims The matter of Métis title is an ongoing matter. On 1 March 1994, the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan filled a major land claim in the Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon. This land claim covered 145,000 km2, and claimed ownership and jurisdiction over the lands and resources in that area, as well as compensation for being deprived of the land and resources and the destruction of the environment in the land claim area. The land claim was filed as a test case for Saskatchewan, with the goal of further land claims across Saskatchewan. In the Framework Agreement for Advancing Reconciliation, the 1994 Land Claim is explicitly stated as a priority in the negotiations between Métis Nation—Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada in the preamble.
To help move matters such as the North West Métis Land Claim forward, Métis Nation—Saskatchewan retained lawyer Thomas Isaac. Isaac, who is the Ministerial Special Representative on Métis s. 35 Rights to Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett, has extensive experience in Aboriginal law in Canada, including advising the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada on negotiations for the South Slave region, serving as an assistant deputy minister in Northwest Territories during the establishment of Nunavut, and being part of other treaty and land settlement negotiations across Canada.
In February 2020, McCallum announced that Métis Nation—Saskatchewan would be contributing $750,000 to advance mapping processes that are pertinent in discussions with the Government of Canada to address outstanding Métis land claims in Saskatchewan. In his announcement, McCallum stated:
Competing Northwest Saskatchewan land claim On 16 October 2019, Métis National Council President, Clément Chartier, in collaboration with former Métis Nation—Saskatchewan President Jim Durocher and several others, filed a competing Métis land claim in Saskatoon, SK that covered a large area of Northwest Saskatchewan and Northeast Alberta, including most if not all of the 1994 North West Saskatchewan Land Claim. This land claim was not filed through the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan and Métis Nation of Alberta, despite both being governing members of the Métis National Council and the recognized governing bodies of the Métis in their respective provinces.
Subsequently, the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan filed a complaint with the Law Society of Saskatchewan and asked the court to strike the competing land claim. Chartier had previously represented Métis Nation—Saskatchewan on the 1994 land claim, and the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan argued that these actions by Chartier were a direct conflict of interest by acting against their interests as his former client in violation of s.3.4-10 of the Law Society of Saskatchewan Code of Professional Conduct. President McCallum argued that "Any other person that wants to pursue another way of doing things totally, in my view, undermines our government [the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan]. If I did that with a provincial government or federal government, then I would be dealt with in a way to wake me up in regards to the rules and the laws of this country." Chartier recognized that the complaint with the law society against him might be successful. , the matter has not been resolved.
Tri-Council On 27 June 2019, Métis Nation—Saskatchewan, Métis Nation of Alberta, and Métis Nation of Ontario signed Métis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreements with The Crown that recognized the Métis inherent right of self-government and established a process by which self-government would be established.
As the three Métis governments began working towards the requirements of the Agreements, they established an informal structure of intergovernmental meetings of the three governments to advance their collective efforts on implementing the Métis Government Recognition and Self-Government Agreements. This helped the three governments to cooperate on shared issues outside of the dysfunctional structure that had developed in the Métis National Council.
Partnership with Canadian Geographic for Future of Michif program Métis Nation-Saskatchewan and Canadian Geographic magazine signed an agreement to launch The Future of Michif Program, which is a $1.8 million multi-platform engagement program, and work together on preserving the Michif language. While Michif is the most widely spoken Métis language, it is endangered and at risk of going extinct as other Métis languages, including Bungi and Brayet, have already gone extinct. The Future of Michif Program approached the objectives of the program in two main ways: highlighting and celebrating Métis culture and the Michif language through media, and to build capacity to educate and inspire future generations of Métis about Métis culture, heritage, and language, especially Michif.
Batoche National Historic Site