"What really threatens us is if you look at the [contract], it says verification and standardization. Verification to what, to whom? If you start doing that, aren't you starting to dabble in definition?" asked Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand.

A watered-down definition of who is Métis could dramatically impact the progress Métis people have made in being recognized as a distinct group of people, developing governance and economic opportunities.

"All of a sudden we'll have a dismantling of all the work we've done for the last 23 years," said Chartrand adding there was no consultation with Metis leaders. "If they [Government of Canada and INAC] were sincere... don't you think they would sit down with us first? What is their agenda here?"

Clarifying who can rightly identify themselves as Métis became an issue after the 2003 Supreme Court of Canada decision of R. v. Powley, which established the Métis constitutional right to hunt for food.

According to Chartrand the Métis definition of belonging is already more or less settled among its provincial associations. A person must self-identify as Métis, be able to trace their family connection to the Métis homeland (the fur trade areas from Ontario westward), be distinct from other aboriginal groups, and be accepted by other Métis.

On February 9, 2011, after considerable uproar, INAC promised the Métis National Council that the government would revisit the CSA contract.