Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight is refusing to release records to Parliament detailing millions in unpaid benefits for Métis Second World War veterans, citing an ongoing court case as justification for the delay.Blacklock's Reporter says the decision follows scrutiny of a federally approved $30 million compensation fund that delivered payments to only a small number of eligible veterans. A Commons veterans affairs committee report found just 107 claims were paid over a six-year period, despite a 2019 agreement promising $20,000 to qualifying Métis veterans, with applications verified by the Métis National Council.In its report, the committee said it was unable to determine whether the program had adequately addressed outstanding claims, calling for full disclosure of how many veterans actually received compensation.McKnight said the government agrees with the recommendation in principle but will not release the records until the conclusion of a legal dispute involving the Métis National Council. The case, a $15 million lawsuit launched in 2021 over internal financial management, is currently before the Ontario Court of Appeal.“Once the litigation proceedings conclude, Veterans Affairs Canada will work with the appropriate parties to supply the information,” McKnight wrote, noting the federal government is not a party to the case. She did not explain why records could not be disclosed in the interim..The controversy has renewed attention on long-standing inequities faced by indigenous veterans following the Second World War. While Ottawa spent more than $1.4 billion on benefits for returning soldiers after 1945 — including grants, education funding, business loans and land programs — indigenous veterans often faced barriers in accessing those supports.A 2019 parliamentary report found that although indigenous veterans were technically eligible under the postwar Veterans Charter, their applications were not handled fairly.Ottawa moved to address some of those grievances in 2002, awarding $20,000 payments to First Nations veterans, totalling $28 million. A similar compensation framework for Métis veterans was not established until 2019, more than a decade later.Historical records have shown disproportionately high enlistment rates among indigenous communities during the war, with some regions seeing participation rates as high as 100% among eligible men.
