MÉTIS VETERANS COMPENSATED
Second World War service recognized
Fighting on the front lines in Italy during the Second World War, Lucien “Jim” Durocher had a moment when he wondered how he was still alive.
Bullets careened around him, striking on nearby rocks and causing sparks to fly.
Now 97, Durocher sat flanked by his children and a plaque of war medals on Wednesday as he received overdue financial compensation for his service.
As a Métis veteran, Durocher was denied appropriate benefits and support upon returning from the war.
He and Marie “Alice” Victoria Samuel (née Petit) are among just over a dozen such veterans being presented with cheques for $20,000 as part of the federal government’s recognition of their service. Samuel was honoured in a ceremony at Goodwill Manor in Duck Lake on Wednesday.
In September, officials issued a formal apology and announced the creation of a $30 million compensation package, most of which would go into a legacy fund to support initiatives like education or monuments.
The rest will be presented to remaining Métis veterans, or their estates if they’ve died in the past three years.
First Nations veterans, who were deprived of their benefits by Indian agents when they returned to their reserves, received similar compensation in the early 2000s.
Speaking at the Central Haven Special Care Home in Saskatoon, where Durocher resides, Métis National Council (MNC) president Clément Chartier highlighted the role Métis veterans had in fighting for rights on an international scale and then at home for their Métis nation.
“These same people who saw adversity when they got back continued to press for rights,” Clement said. “Now it is rights for our own people. Many of these returning soldiers actually became our leaders and helped us get to where we are today.
“So we owe a great tribute to the veterans of World War Two.”
Chartier and Glen Mccallum, President of the Métis Nation of Saskatchewan, remembered listening to returned veterans’ stories as children.
The MNC has tracked down more than a dozen veterans, some of whom now live outside Canada. It’s been no easy task, said MNC Minister of Veterans Affairs David Chartrand. Aside from the advanced age of those remaining, Métis people who enlisted did so not as “Métis,” but “Canadian” or “French.”
“I’ve been working on this file for over 20 years and for me it’s been two decades of fighting for justice to find a day when Canada will honour the promise made to every veteran,” Chartrand said.
With an emotional “thank you,” Durocher dabbed at his eyes while receiving the cheque, along with a woven sash and a beaded poppy.
Durocher, who grew up in the village of St. Louis, spent time all over Europe and then returned to live and work at his family’s farm. At the time, the money would have gone toward helping the farm; now he plans to put it away.
Back then, the money could have made a difference. “I should have had that when I was buying and selling horses,” Durocher said.
Chartrand drew attention to the prejudice and other implications of colonization that Métis soldiers faced heading into the war.
In 1939, just as the war was beginning, the Manitoba government expropriated the Métis village of Ste. Madeleine. Resident’s homes were burned to the ground and their dogs were shot dead.
“And yet our Métis people went, they still went to fight for a country that treated them so horrifically and disrespectfully,” Chartrand said. “This country has treated us in such a fashion, that I think that they’re finally coming to terms of why that apology came.”
Durocher and Samuel are the 18th and 19th veterans to receive compensation. Veteran sailor George Watson was presented with a cheque on Tuesday in Vancouver.