24 METIS NA TION Of ONT ARIO Annu A l Repo R t 20122013 T H e d u TY of TH e Cro W n T o Consul T and aCC ommoda T e S ince its inception the Metis Nation of Ontario MNO has focused its ef forts on build ing Metisspecifc gover nance structur es that will facilitate the selfgover nment aspira tions of Ontario Metis Fr om the Registr y to charter ed community councils the MNO guided by its citizens and communities has developed unique Metis gover nance institu tions that advance Metis inter ests It is a structur e that continues to evolve and in 20082009 the MNO added a new dimension to Metis gover nance called Regional Consultation Pr otocols These agr eements advance the MNO s overall nationbuilding ef forts and help ensur e the Cr own fulflls its duty to consult and accommodate r egional rightsbearing Metis communities thr oughout the pr ovince MNO Regional Consultation Pr otocols ar e based on the historic and contemporar y r eality that rightsbear ing Metis communities in Ontario ar e r egional in size and scope connected to other r egional rightsbearing communities thr oughout Ontario and ar e an inseparable part of the lar ger Metis Nation Simply put Metis communities ar e not limited to dots on a map one settlement one extended family or a localized ar ea They ar e a matrix of inter connected Metis families and settlements living in and r elying on a shar ed traditional territor y The overar ching goal of the pr otocols is to ensur e that all MNO citizens who ar e members of r egional rights bearing communities have an opportunity to be consulted on policies plans pr ojects and developments that have the potential to impact the collective rights and inter ests of the Metis Each pr otocol includes a r egional consultation committee comprised of the MNO s Regional Councillor and a r epr esentative fr om each community council in a given traditional territor y The committees work in collaboration with the MNO staf f to ensur e inclusive transpar ent and meaningful Metis consultation and accommodation pr ocesses with the Cr own and pr oponents ar e in place As well this Met IS rIGH t S mno r egion n ine Consul tat ion Commit tee tours t he b isnet t wind far m hosted by t he n iagara r egion Wind Corporat ion in n ovember 2012 to ensur e that all MNO citizenhave an oppor tunity to be consulted on policies plans pr ojects and developments that have the potential to impact the col lective rights and inter ests of the Metis