ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Province eyes better relationship with First Nations

Relations between First Nations and the provincial government can be better, according to Saskatchewan’s attorney general.

On the heels of the provincial government being criticized this week — again — by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), Don Morgan told reporters he regards Chief Bobby Cameron as “a friend.”

But he added he “would like to see the relationship improve” between the Saskatchewan Party government he serves in and First Nations leadership.

“We have a lot of things that we can and should work together with First Nations,” he said, citing onand-off-reserve school attendance as an example.

Cameron has described tensions and anger in the province as at an “all-time high,” telling the Star-phoenix earlier this month, “We hope to fix it, we hope to deescalate and find better solutions where our First Nation inherent treaty rights are being respected.”

Public comments made by First Nations leaders and the province in recent months suggest Cameron is correct: race relations in the province appear to have declined steadily over the past year.

In 2018 the FSIN has been at odds with the province over:

The legality of a cannabis dispensary on Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation;

The province’s failed appeal of a case involving an Indigenous man who was charged after shooting a moose on private land;

A long-delayed Sixties Scoop apology and lack of willingness by the province to provide financial compensation;

Provincial support for the remov- al of a First Nations-based protest camp calling for foster care reform;

A lack of funding to halt high suiciderates, and

T he need for justice system reforms in the wake of a not-guilty verdict for Gerald Stanley (who was accused of murdering 22-yearold Colten Boushie).

This week, Cameron was critiquing the province’s newly introduced trespassing laws, put in place by the Saskatchewan government to reduce rural crime and make people “safer.” The law, if passed, will place the onus on individuals who want to access property to seek permission, prompting Cameron to say it was introduced with “no respect or consultation” with First Nations groups.

“This leaves the door open for many altercations, this leaves the door open for a potential killing in the making,” he said. “Who is going to be to blamed there? Who is going to take the fault? If the provincial government is going to pass legislation on this, then they should be held liable, because potentially it could happen.”

Other measures put in place to reduce rural crime, such as arming conservation officers, have been criticized by FSIN leadership.

Morgan met with the FSIN on Friday, telling reporters afterward the meeting was “respectful.”

“The position that they’re advancing and will likely go to court on is they say it affects Indigenous rights. Our position is it does not change any of the rights as they exist right now. That will ultimately have to be something that gets resolved by the courts,” he said. “But it was certainly a good discussion and very respectful, and I think … what all of us want to talk about is how we move First Nations forward, what things we can do to protect the safety and security of people living all across the province, on and off reserve.”

NDP Leader Ryan Meili said there is a “fracture” in the relationship between the two parties.

“That’s a very dangerous thing for this province. We need to be building the relationship between Indigenous leadership and provincial leadership,” he said.

“In this province — where Colten Boushie was killed, where there has been such serious issues around race relations for years, and particularly in the last year — that failure to consult, that failure to converse in a respectful, relationship-based way, sends a very clear message that is, I think, should be distressing (not only) to Indigenous people, but to everyone in the province, because if we’re going to have a healthy future in this province, it’s going to be by bringing people together, closing the gaps in outcomes, in health and education, incomes, working together to bring a great society, not using dog whistles to create further distraction and division.”

We have a lot of things that we can and should work together with First Nations. DON MORGAN