Problems: Scrip for Land in Manitoba
Issuing scrip had many problems.
- The two Commissioners were from outside Manitoba and did not understand seasonal work such as fishing and freighting. This work removed the men from the community for part of the year.
- Not everyone who was entitled was counted.
- In some cases cousins or distant relatives with similar names were confused.
- In other cases, the scrip was properly signed for but never arrived.
- Sometimes the scrip was diverted to a law firm.
It took years for such confusions to be sorted out and there are remaining questions about fraud by the government.
- A person applying for scrip would appear before the commissioners and complete an English form. This was an issue in a community where many spoke French as their first language. More were not literate.
- The applicants swore to one's parentage, place of birth and place of residence.
- Two other individuals signed to confirm one's identity.
If all went well a scrip certificate was issued later.
The scrip was a voucher of 160acres (64.75 hectare) of land. At first, the land had to be chosen from a designated area, but this was soon extended to allow for the choice of any government land that was not otherwise allocated. Also, in the beginning, these were issued with only a land value. Later, they were printed with either a land value or a monetary value.
- The process was marked by bad deals and mishandling. Sometimes, the person offering to assist in filling out the forms was actually planning to steal them.
- In some cases, land agents and other commercial "gentlemen" accompanied the Commissioners from community to community, offering to buy the scrip.
- Examples have also been found of misrepresentation, where the wrong individual showed up to claim the scrip.
Some had little problems with the scrip process. These were generally the more literate and English-speaking members of the society but even they could run afoul of the process.
Here is an example showing how Métis lost out when Section 32 was applied. Land title had been determined in a strange way according to Métis understanding.
"Even established river lots had not been secure: out of ninety-three Métis claims, eighty-four were rejected out of hand because of insufficient cultivation. Five claimants who had houses considered to be adequate and who had cultivated at least five acres received forty-acre grants; four who had cultivated ten acres received eighty acres."
Olive P. Dickason, Canada's First Nations: a History of Founding Peoples from Earliest Times, ( Toronto: McClelland and Stewart), 1992, 296.
Five acres are 2.02 hectare, forty acres are 16.19 hectare, ten acres are 4.05 hectare, eighty acres are 32.37 hectare.
