Neither protest camp nor First Nations issues going away soon

Perhaps it’s fitting that the supposed eyesore First Nations protest camp across the street from the Saskatchewan Legislative Building isn’t easily going away.

Saskatchewan First Nations aren’t going away, either.

Nor are the problems within their community.

The eviction of the Justice for our Stolen Children took effect at 5 p.m. Tuesday — the 98th day of the protest camp set up in response to the acquittals of Raymond Cormier and Gerald Stanley and other long-standing First Nations’ grievances.

But as of the writing of this column, the camp is still there ... and perhaps growing.

For most of the spring and winter the camp has seemed quiet — a place where a handful of protesters would occasionally gather to share stories of foster care, residential schools and loved ones who have died.

“It’s a step in healing,” camp organizer Prescott Demas, told the Leader-Post’s Arthur WhiteCrummey.

Since the passage of the eviction notice deadline issued by the Provincial Capital Commission, which has alleged the campers are in violation of the Trespass to Property Act, the camp has been joined by other First Nations supporters and labour and LGBTQ activists in anticipation of a possible police response.

Ostensibly, Wascana Centre wants the camp site dismantled in anticipation of Canada Day festivities 23 days from now — no small irony for a couple of reasons.

If these campers are causing a “disruption” to the upcoming birthday party, how would you describe the happenings across Wascana Lake, where chainsaws are taking down trees to make way for the new Conexus Credit Union headquarters?

And while the Provincial Capital Commission and Central Services ministry also cited concern over “the security of everyone at the park on Canada Day, and that’s probably an unneeded disruption,” it seems to be missing that one of the protesters’ goals was to raise awareness of historical wrongs that continue to have an impact on First Nations people today. That this actually was a significant issue during last year’s Canada 150 celebrations makes the current eviction order seem that much more obtuse.

That said, it is a valid point that the very existence of the camp has the ability to incite confrontation on Canada Day — not exactly a great testimonial to race relations in the city and province.

If anything, it pretty much underscores the reasons why the campers have been there ... as ambiguous as those reasons have sometimes seemed.

And both the government and capital commission deserve credit for demonstrating remarkable patience to date. Their frustration is now only increased by the fact the camp has become a bug light for other groups with a grievance against government.

It now has been more than three months since the camp first appeared and politicians have met with campers. Yet no one seems to fully understand the issues they want resolved — let alone, how to resolve them.

But if this is frustrating for officials and the rest of the broader community, imagine how frustrating it is for those in the First Nations community who don’t know how to get through to an audience that would rather talk about something else and dutifully ignore them.

Consider the news this week that, according to 2015-16 Statistics Canada numbers, Saskatchewan tied with Manitoba for the lowest rate of net interprovincial migration. It is newsworthy that we are again losing people to other provinces — especially in the context of Saskatchewan’s recent success in attracting new immigrants.

But consider our obsession with population/immigration numbers from a First Nations’ perspective — a demographic that’s remaining here and steadily growing, yet still weighed down by century-old social problems without getting better economically.

So even as disjointed as the campers’ message may be, shouldn’t we spend a moment to hear what they have to say?

Does anyone else find it ironic that we are again ignoring First Nations’ concerns while we tell them to move out because we need their land?

Sadly, the problems for Saskatchewan First Nations people don’t seem to be going anywhere.