Teepee protest camp to stay at Saskatchewan legislature
Meeting with five cabinet ministers called ‘just the start of what’s coming’
REGINA — Protesters occupying a growing number of teepees set up across from the Saskatchewan legislature say they aren’t going anywhere until they have another meeting with the government.
But Saskatchewan’s justice minister said that if protesters want another meeting with him, they should call for the dozen teepees to be dismantled.
“They need to show some good faith and call for the teepees to be taken down. I know they were put up by other people, but they need to show that,” Don Morgan said Tuesday.
The camp started with one teepee in late February to protest racial injustice and the disproportionate number of Indigenous children apprehended by child-welfare workers.
It was dismantled June 18 by government order before a dozen teepees were set back up.
Protesters met with five cabinet ministers in Fort Qu’Appelle on Monday, but said on Tuesday that they aren’t leaving yet.
They presented the government with a list of changes they want, including an in-depth review of children in foster care and foster homes, a moratorium on adoptions, an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys, and an inquiry into police practices in the Regina police major crimes unit in 2015.
Morgan said the province has been working toward giving more responsibility for child welfare to First Nations organizations, but added that putting a moratorium on adoptions might not be feasible or in the best interests of children in need of protection.
“We’re not asking for modest reforms,” protester Michelle Stewart said. “We are asking for paradigmshifting work. … These systems are fundamentally broken.”
Some protesters said Monday’s meeting was an opportunity to be heard, but many stories of trauma, pain and loss weren’t told.
“We are dealing with systemic issues, but we recognize that within these systems, there are individual stories,” Robin Pitawanakwat said. “It was devastating to not be able to have each of those voices heard.”
Morgan said the province wants to know how tribal leaders and Indigenous groups want the province to handle the protesters’ demands.
Both Premier Scott Moe and Saskatchewan’s Provincial Capital Commission have called on Regina police to remove the camp.
Regina Police Chief Evan Bray has demurred, saying the protesters don’t pose an immediate public safety risk. A police spokeswoman said officers regularly assess the risk and visit the camp often.
Protester Prescott Demas said more teepees could be set up in the coming days since the group welcomes any additional support.
“That first meeting was just the start of what’s coming. That was just to get our foot in the door,” Demas said.