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A Metis Second World War veteran was honoured for his service Wednesday in a ceremony at the Central Haven Special Care Home, in Sasaktoon.
The 97 year old, Jim Boucher, was presented with a cheque for $20,000 by the Metis Nation Minister of Veteran Affairs, David Chartrand.
Chartrand said this money is compensation for the lack of support Metis veterans received from the Canadian government after returning from overseas.
“The Metis weren’t allowed to say they were Metis when they went, they had to say they were Canadian and so the indians had to give up their treaty status. So when they went overseas everyone was a volunteer but they promised them, when you come home we’ll take care of you we will give you an economic head start so maybe you can buy a store or a ranch and start a business,” he said.
“But The first nations were told to ‘go back to your reserves’ and the Metis were told ‘go back where you come from’,” he explained “A lot of them died young because they turned to alcohol because they couldn’t stop what was going through their minds. And the government wasn’t there to help them, council them or give them support, they were on their own.”
The ceremony looked to have a bit of mixed emotions for Boucher who relied on his children to speak for him.
The few times he did speak he stated how proud he was to be honoured but also commented “imagine if I had that sooner,” in reference to the $20,000.
The ceremony consisted of speeches from family and members of the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan all offering thanks to Boucher for his sacrifice.
Amidst all the appreciation a single tear rolled down Boucher’s cheek.
Seeing that emotion from her father stood out to Anita Grenier, who was proud to see him get the recognition he deserved.
“I was a little overwhelmed with the whole thing. It was pretty touching seeing him get so emotional,” she said while fighting back tears herself.
In his speech, Chartrand mentioned the difficulty in tracking down Second World War veterans like Boucher, many of whom are no longer alive. He also talked about how special it is for him to be able to give them the recognition and compensation that they were promised by the Canadian Government.
Boucher was a member of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and was overseas for just over a year where he spent 3 months on the front lines in northern Italy. He returned home on January 9th, 1944.