Sask. Polytech. honours Louis Riel’s memory

It was a cold, blustery morning, but that didn’t stop two dozen people from gathering at Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Moose Jaw campus to see the Métis flag raised in honour of Louis Riel Memorial Day.

“This is the day our Métis people, our father, our forefather, was taken from us unjustly,” said Xavier

Fisher, coordinator for the

Indigenous Student Centre at the Moose Jaw campus of Sask. Polytech. “This is a day we like to signify and recognize continuously and annually. Sask Polytech has taken it upon ourselves to be a supporter and recognize it as such for the Indigenous people.”

Riel, leader of the Métis people and the founder of Manitoba, was hanged on Nov.

16, 1885.

All four Saskatchewan Polytechnic locations raised the flag in recognition of Riel and his work representing the Métis peoples’ interests.

At the local campus there was a traditional Michif meal at noon and a Louis

Riel/Métis display.

“Sometimes we underestimate the importance of symbols, but they really send messages to the community about inclusion and recognizing how important it is,” said Moose Jaw Police Chief Rick Bourassa, who is himself Métis.

Laverne Trudel, president of the Southern Plains Métis Local 160 and Moose Jaw Wakamow MLA Greg Lawrence, also part of the local Métis community, were on hand as well.

Lawrence said that it was “a good day to remember our past” and acknowledges that the government needs to continue to work towards reconciliation. Rural municipal officials want the Saskatchewan government to re-instate funding for a province-wide rat control program.

Provincial funding for rat control was reduced in severe budget cuts two years ago to $1.4 million with $900,000 this year. Funding is supposed to fall to $500,000 in 2019.

Ninety-seven per cent of delegates to the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) midterm convention in Saskatoon voted for restoration of full rat control funding.

Funds from the rat control program have been re-directed to a new Pest Bio-security Program that covers rats, beavers and plant diseases like club root in canola. Rats have been an issue in the province since the 1920s. In the 1980s, municipalities under the ADD boards started developing rat control programs to reduce the multi-million-dollar annual damage by the prolific pest.