Cuthand: Provincial election showcases need for change in Sask. politics

The provincial election may have revealed the rural-urban split in Saskatchewan, but it also revealed the split between the Saskacthewan Party and Indian Country. All three Indigenous MLAs are with the NDP.

The two northern constituencies chose Indigenous candidates, with Jordan McFail taking Cumberland and Leroy Laliberte in Athabasca. Also, Betty Nippi-Albright held onto her seat in Saskatoon.

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Both Doug Racine and Mark Thunderchild came second in their respective races. Thunderchild lost to Premier Scott Moe, but he gave a good account of himself. Racine ran in Saskatchewan Rivers, north of Prince Albert. He ran against Nadine Wilson, of the Saskatchewan United Party.

It was hoped that the Saskatchewan. Party and the United Party would split the vote, and Racine would come up the middle. Unfortunately, the Saskatchewan United Party support collapsed, and the votes went to the Saskatchewan Party.

None of the Saskatchewan Party MLAs are Indigenous.

In their zeal to court the right wing, Indigenous issues have been ignored and the Saskatchewan Party government has instead placed a priority on cultural wedge issues, such as changing rooms for trans kids.

This issue hardly shows on the First Nations radar. Instead, issues such as health care, poverty, homelessness and the justice system were barely discussed. Health care being the exception.

According to Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand there are over 800 homeless people in Saskatoon, and most are Indigenous. The situation in Regina is likely similar. This is a complicated issue that must be addressed.

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It involves drug addiction, mental health and petty crime. It requires the involvement of all levels of government, including federal, provincial, civic, First Nations and Métis.

On the Karma side of things, April ChiefCalf was an instructor at NORTEP (Northern Teacher Education Program) in La Ronge when the province shut the program down. Bronwyn Eyre was the minister of advanced education at the time and the program was gutted and the assets seized.

Now ChiefCalf is in government and Eyre is looking for a job.

The split between the First Nations and the conservatives wasn’t always the case. In 1960 the federal government under John Diefenbaker passed legislation to extent the right to vote to the First Nations. We would vote for the first time in the 1963 election.

Because of this, many First Nations people were supporters of the Diefenbaker Progressive Conservatives. Gladys Johnston, the daughter of Mistawasis chief Joe Dreaver, was on staff in his constituency office. Over the years, the PCs lost Diefenbaker and the support for the conservatives dwindled away in Indian Country.

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The end came with the Reform Party that used Indigenous issues against the Liberals and when the Harper Conservatives took power, Indigenous budgets were frozen and the relationship between the two camps was nonexistent.

On the other hand, the relationship between the CCF and later the NDP grew in a more positive manner. In 1946, when the Union of Saskatchewan Indians was formed, the provincial government under the leadership of Tommy Douglas provided some funds to hold the meeting even though we didn’t have the vote at the time.

Allen Blakeney was a strong supporter to have treaty and Aboriginal rights enshrined in the Canadian constitution.

Now we have a provincial government with a reduced number of MLAs, but still in power. When I was a vice-chief, we developed an ongoing relationship with the provincial government to address issues and work together. We had a two-tier approach.

Tier 1 was the politicians who drove the process. We would raise issues and the spade work would go to Tier 2, which were the civil servants and specialists who would address the details and report to Tier 1.

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Using this approach, we were able to process problems and create positive supports before they became insurmountable problems with both sides dug in. It was a non-partisan process where both parties worked together for their mutual benefit.

The Saskatchewan Party has a renewed mandate and an opportunity to begin a new relationship with the First Nations and Métis. It is an opportunity for true reconciliation and a chance to be a part of an exciting period of change.

Doug Cuthand is the Indigenous affairs columnist for the Saskatoon StarPhoenix and the Regina Leader-Post. He is a member of the Little Pine First Nation.

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