Trespassing law has First Nations Concerned

First Nations leadership in Saskatchewan is raising concerns over new trespassing legislation introduced by the provincial government on Tuesday.

The new law, if passed, will place the onus on the individuals who want to access property to seek permission.

But Chief Bobby Cameron, with the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, says that could lead to clashes and even deaths.

The proposed changes to trespassing legislation were introduced Tuesday, over two years after Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Indigenous man, was killed on a farm in rural Saskatchewan.

Earlier this year, a jury acquitted farmer Gerald Stanley of seconddegree murder after he testified his gun went off accidentally when he was trying to scare off some young people who drove on to his farm.

“We hope there are no more tragedies, we really hope,” Cameron said Tuesday. “But if they do, this provincial government should also say, we will be held liable if someone dies because of this trespassing legislation.”

Justice Minister Don Morgan said the proposed law strikes a balance between the rights of rural landowners and the public, but admitted the “goal is protection of landowners at this time” and the purpose of the new law is to be “a tool for the police and for landowners.”

But how the law will work once in effect, as soon as next fall, remains unclear. While the province says the law, “provides legal protection to land owners and occupiers against property damage and the risk of agricultural diseases, and limits any liability that may arise from a trespasser’s presence on their property” there was little evidence provided by Morgan on Tuesday on how it will do so.

Concerns have been raised over how people seeking permission to get onto land will be able to contact — or even identify — landowners.

Morgan said there are a variety of ways people can find who owns land, such as contacting neighbours or using public records. He also suggested landowners can put up signs saying, “No trespassing without permission” accompanied by a contact phone number. Morgan told reporters he expects landowners to, “adopt a reasonable position and make themselves available.”

Cameron predicted the proposed legislation will create headaches because First Nation land and roads are used by nonindigenous people.

“So, you mean to tell me that every farmer and rancher and agriculturalist needs to call chief and council every single time to come on to lands?” Cameron said. “That’s cumbersome. There’s a better way of doing business.”

Of the 1,601 people who responded to a provincial survey on the subject, 65 per cent said they were in favour of members of the public requiring the expressed advance permission of the rural land owner, regardless of the activity taking place on the land.

Cameron said it’s unfortunate the province didn’t consult the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and decided to base the proposed changes on the survey’s results.

NDP MLA Trent Wotherspoon said the province is “ramming forward” a law without consulting First Nations communities or the hunters of the province.

He said the law is “not practicable, not enforceable, not the fix to the problems, the problems of rural crime and things like club root.”

Wotherspoon said at worst, the Saskatchewan Party government is playing “dog-whistle politics and stoking racial tensions.”

A new law has long been telegraphed by the provincial government, following a growing fear rural crime is getting worse. In September, the province announced it was reviewing trespass laws and, shortly after being named premier, Scott Moe acknowledged “there is more work to do” on the issue.