[3] As of 4 September 2012, the portfolio dealing with Métis and Non-Status Indians was moved from the OFI to the Policy and Strategic Direction branch of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada in order to streamline program management and business processes.
[1] More specifically, the federal government found it necessary to designate a Minister who could act as a first point of contact to facilitate the participation of such groups in the Indigenous constitutional process.
[5] Over the intervening decades, the mandate evolved and broadened to include bilateral relations between the federal government and national Métis and non-status Indian organizations; tripartite self-government processes with off-reserve Aboriginal groups and the provinces; and advocacy of Métis, non-status Indian, and urban Aboriginal people issues within Cabinet and Government; among other things.
This Department established a new sector named Office of the Federal Interlocutor (OFI), assigning it the staff, programs, and funding of the former Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat.
[3] As of 4 September 2012, the portfolio dealing with Métis and Non-Status Indians was moved from the OFI to the Policy and Strategic Direction branch of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada in order to streamline program management and business processes.