A potentially large event that was expected to draw some serious economic activity to Airdrie later this summer has become yet another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.  

The 92nd Annual Metis General Assembly was to be held August 13th - 16th but Region Three President Lawrence Gervais says it's been cancelled.  Gervais laments that COVID-19 has put the brakes on many events planned by the Metis.

"Because of COVID, its been such a big interruption for a lot of our events.  Especially with the assembly.  When you're asking, potentially thousands of Metis to come and gather.  COVID left this huge impact on us.  We had to make the decision ahead of time to cancel it because people do have to plan ahead."

Gervais explains that the General Assembly is much like an Annual General Meeting that attracts delegates from all six Metis regions in Alberta.  He says because the event was set for Airdrie this year, he was anticipating it to be a bigger event than usual because of the city's close proximity to the Calgary Airport.

"We (usually) have 500 to 600 people per day at the meeting but because it's such a locale near Calgary, Airdrie was kind of a focal point to be close to the airport.  We anticipated possibly 1,000 per day."

Some of the other events to be held in conjunction with the General Assembly also had the potential to bring even more people to the city.  "The events that surround it, like trade shows, youth conference, senior's conference.  The event is quite large.  The nation is growing and we thought being close to Calgary we would get a lot of industry participation too. That's important for us," says Gervais.

After the 2021 General Assembly is held in Metis Crossing, the Metis cultural interpretive centre located in Smoky Lake, Gervais says Region Three will again get the chance to host it in August 2022.  

Ther pandemic has been hard on the Metis nation in Alberta and on many of the 14,000 members in Region Three, which reaches from just north of Red Deer down to the U.S. border.  Gervais says they've received a $500,000 allotment from the Metis Nation to distribute to their members to cover things like rent, loss of income and food for seniors.  The pandemic has forced Gervais' Region Three office to become a service centre, rather than simply a political office.  He says the 15 people who work in the office have really stepped up to help Metis families.

Gervais explains it has also meant ramping up communication to their people, including the implementation of a new podcast.  The Squeaky Wheel is named for the sound made by Red River carts as they passed over the prairies.  The Squeaky Wheel podcast is put out every Friday on YouTube.  

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