Communication between province, First Nations must improve
Justice Minister Don Morgan says he made a habit of grabbing an occasional coffee with Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Chief Bobby Cameron.
That this happens — even if only occasionally — is a very good thing.
If Morgan’s Saskatchewan Party government could improve on just one thing, it should be its relationship/communication with First Nations. On occasion, Morgan and Premier Scott Moe have made strides.
It was Morgan and Moe who met with the family of Colten Boushie immediately after Gerald Stanley’s not guilty verdict — a move that probably displeased some in the Sask. Party base at a time when nerves in this province over the trial were rubbed raw.
However, it was absolutely the right thing to do at the right time. Through either neglect or more nefarious dog-whistle politicking, this government has not always communicated with First Nations in the right way.
We are still awaiting an apology in the Saskatchewan legislature for the Sixties Scoop — a provincial policy encouraging the removal of First Nations and Metis children from their homes for adoption by white families far and away.
The Justice for Our Stolen Children protest camp (largely about the Boushie verdict and current and long-standing problems between First Nations children and the social services system) was horribly handled this summer. Whether it was largely ignoring the protest for months and then ordering the Regina police to proceed with an eviction prior to Canada Day celebrations or Moe not meeting with protesters, the government fumbled this at every step.
Morgan made the reasonable observation Monday that it’s never easy to have meaningful dialogue with ad hoc groups like those protesters because agendas and spokespeople vary wildly. And the formal FSIN is often as guilty of bad and unproductive communications, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found out this summer.
But this only underscores why communication with First Nations always needs to be open and why careful, thoughtful messaging is so very important.
To his credit, Morgan is one politician usually attuned to this need.
For example, it is absolutely the right thing for Morgan to meet with Muscowpetung Chief Anthony Cappo (something the justice minister has decided to do after a text exchange with Cameron) to discuss its on-reserve pot shop that has the full support of the FSIN.
The meeting comes after Morgan wrote to Muscowpetung in what can be best described as a gentle reminder that jurisdiction over legal cannabis sales lies with the provincial government. Morgan made the point Monday that licensing is available for First Nations, but it’s difficult to reward those arbitrarily setting up their own shops. He also stressed there was no desire to send in the RCMP.
We need pot policy consistency right now. What we don’t need is the same ham-handed handling we saw from the former NDP government when it sent in the RCMP to raid the White Bear First Nation casino in the 1990s.
However, if the Sask. Party government is miffed about First Nations not consulting on their pot shops, it would be more than a little ironic.
The Muscowpetung issue comes at the same time the government is planning to move forward with stricter trespassing laws, seemingly demanded by rural land owners.
Let’s be clear that rural concerns are real. Increasingly sparse farms are far removed from police help. Disrespect and lack of understanding of farmland seem to be on the rise.
But also on the rise is tension between rural residents and First Nations, especially in the wake of the Stanley/boushie case that many rural residents viewed as a home invasion. Let’s be equally clear that First Nations people have every reason to feel this law change could target them.
And First Nations leadership likely has legitimate reason to feel it wasn’t properly consulted on a law change that — inadvertently or otherwise — may have a real-world effect on them.
Solutions begin with talking. This government and First Nations need to do more of it.