METIS NA TION Of ONT ARIO Annu A l Repo R t 20122013 23 MNO citizens exer cise their collective right to selfgover nment thr ough a gover nance structur e that contin ues to evolve as the MNO moves for war d in the implementation of Metis selfgover nment A series of documents which includes the MNO Statement of Prime Purpose MNO bylaws MNO Community Council Charter Agr ee ments MNO Interim Har vesting Policy MNO Electoral Code and the Metis Nation Rules of Or der which ar e supported by the policies and pr ocedur es adopted and implemented by the MNO guide the work of the Nation Ever y four years Metis citizens have the opportunity to choose their pr ovincial leadership by voting in pr ovince wide ballot box elections Community councils have been charter ed thr oughout the pr ovince The councils get their mandate to support local gover nance fr om the MNO thr ough signed Community Charter Agr eements and work collaboratively with the MNO and other community councils to r epr esent the rights and inter ests of r egional rightsbearing Metis communities thr oughout the pr ovince As the only r ecognized pr ovincial Metis gover nance structur e in Ontario the MNO advanced the Metis rights agenda nationally thr ough the pr ecedent setting Powley case The MNO has established bilateral and tri partite pr ocesses with the federal and pr ovincial gover nments and in November 2008 signed an OntarioMetis Nation Framework Agr eement with the Gover nment of Ontario The MNO has also negotiated an interim ac commodation agr eement with the pr ovincial gover nment on Metis har vesting rights W ith over 100 staf f and support fr om many volunteers the MNO s pr ovincewide infrastructur e delivers a range of pr ograms and ser vices in the ar eas of healing and wellness education and training and housing to Ontario selfidentifed Metis and other Aboriginal clients It administers DutytoConsult and Accommodate pr ocesses pr otects and pr eser ves the Metis W ay of Life and pr omotes Metis cultur e and heritage Met I s sel F GoveRn A nCe The mno s a nnual General a ssembl ies and t he elected p r ovisional Council of t he mno ar e vital aspects of m et is sel f gover nance in o ntario