Saskatchewan Indigenous leaders continue to stand up for province over Crown land sale Globalnews.ca

Indigenous leaders in Saskatchewan gather at this venue in an effort to make their voices and concerns heard in the province Regina MLA to plead with monday morning Government of Saskatchewan To prevent the sale of Crown lands.

“First Nations say that if the government continues on this reckless path, they will be displaced. Not once, but twice from their traditional territories,” said Betty Nippie-Albright, opposition First Nations and Métis relations critic.

indigenous leaders like Onion Lake Cree Nation The Okimaw (chief) and Yellow Quill First Nation leadership joined Nippie-Albright in holding a media conference on January 23, 2023, to pressure the provincial government to stop and listen to their pleas.

Nippe-Albright said, “The duty to consult requires that the government have a meaningful dialogue with Indigenous peoples when a government action could negatively affect Indigenous rights.”

“These leaders are ringing the alarm bells on a government that has failed to consult, failed to accommodate and failed to mitigate.”

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) said in a media release that the sale of Crown land by the province violates First Nations’ underlying treaty rights to land for traditional and cultural use.

FSIN chief Bobby Cameron said, “We oppose the illegal sale and lease of Crown land because it prevents First Nations from exercising their treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap.”

“The province is contradicting its own policies brought in in the 1990s.”

The next online auction will open in late January, according to the province’s website. Global News reached out to the province for a comment but did not receive a timely response.

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Sask. First Nations leaders call on province to update consultation policies

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