Chief’s vow to fight tobacco tax changes

Either way you look at it, if you’re First Nations, live in Saskatchewan, and use tobacco, you are going to pay more.

According to the provincial government, they imposed
new restrictions on the amount of tax-free tobacco available to status Indians in an attempt to recover millions of dollars lost due to illegal smuggling and black marketing of tobacco.

The move came into effect on July 1 of this year and will limit the number of the previous three tax-free cartons of cigarettes to one carton per week per First Nation individual.

Over forty First Nations leaders met at the Muskoday Store and Gas Bar just south of Prince Albert Saskatchewan in an attempt to challenge the new restrictions. Each chief purchased four cartons of cigarettes, thereafter signing individual affidavits that stated they were denied the tax exemption on the extra cartons. The intent is to file the affidavits in a small-claims suit in an effort to recover the sales tax rebate and contest what is being called a breach of treaty rights.
In a release, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Vice-Chief Morley Watson stated that the Saskatchewan Government “has a duty to consult where there is an infringement on Treaty rights with First Nations before any changes can be made to on -reserve taxation”.

Watson said when Saskatchewan Provincial Premier Brad Wall first announced the changes to the legislation last March, First Nations Leaders asked for a meeting with him to discuss the proposed changes, the meeting was denied.

“The Province’s proposal is a blatant attack on our Treaty rights and our ability to develop our economies said Watson. “It’s going to come to a point where our kids and our grand kids have absolute nothing.”

In an interview with CBC news, Chief Austin Bear of the Muskoday First Nations said the provincial government had no right to interfere with treaty rights, and First Nations leaders plan to file a lawsuit in the coming weeks.

In an earlier speech in Saskatoon, Premiere Wall stated that he was concerned with the health problems of Aboriginal people, which are directly related to high smoking rates, and about twice the rate of non-Aboriginal people.

The premier said the lack of tobacco taxes on reserve land is part of the problem. The other part of the problem, Wall said quoting a 2008 report, is that a good many tax-exempt cigarettes end up in the hands of non-First Nations people.

Lawyer Ron Cherkewich said the provincial government claims to be addressing health concerns among First Nations people in its enforcement of the tobacco act.
“The government claims they had to do this because there were people abusing the system yet we can’t find one prosecution or one set of charges against anybody that has abused the tobacco or gasoline practices,” he said.

The transparency of the government’s argument combined with their sudden paternalistic interest in the health and welfare of First Nations people who are smokers, makes little sense, stated Cherewich.

“The government needs to provide data showing such health deterioration,” he added.

“It not up to the government to determine one sector of a society, or one people of a society to determine what’s in the best interest of that particular group” said Chief Bear.

“I think today you’ll see First Nations start to fight back,” said Vice-Chief Watson, and added that every day the federal and provincial governments whittle away treaty rights. “We’re tired of them taking advantage of our niceness,” he added.

According to Watson, FSIN has requested their lawyers to prepare court documents for the end of this month.