FSIN leader watching provincial election campaign

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Whoever wins the provincial election, the next Saskatchewan government has a lot of work to do on relations with First Nations, said Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde.

Issues such as health care, education, justice and taxation issues will be important to First Nations people in this election, Bellegrade said.

"We always have to watch what's going on at the provincial level because any changes on policies or programs impact on our people," said the FSIN leader.

Meanwhile there's very little being discussed in the election that will directly affect First Nations people, he said. And what little he has heard has left the FSIN leader confused.

The Saskatchewan Party says that, if elected, they will apply the six per cent provincial sales tax to status Indians. Aboriginal leaders say this imposition is a violation of treaty rights.

"We've always maintained as treaty Indians that we have an inherent right to tax immunity, based on the fact that we are sharing this land and we've already prepaid for all our services and programs," Bellegrade said. "There's billions of dollars in gross domestic product in resources that have been extracted from this territory we're sharing."

In addition, the Saskatchewan Party is trying to make a lot of political mileage out of something which, if applied, would net the province only $9 million a year, Bellegarde added.

Meanwhile, other political parties have made spending promises that the FSIN says should also apply to First Nations people.

"We want to get clarification on some of the things that have been announced in party platforms," Bellegrade said. "The NDP have promised that first-year tuition for university and technical school students will be covered. We believe that should also apply to status Indians as well."

Earlier in the election the NDP promised that if re-elected they will pay all tuition for students enrolled in their first year of courses in Saskatchewan universities, colleges, and technical institutes. The provincial Liberals also promised $1,000 scholarships to first- and second-year university and technical school students.

The federal government, through third-party transfer payments, pays a portion of university and technical school operation, Bellegrade said. The federal government includes the number of Aboriginal students enrolled when determining the amount of dollars provided to provinces.

"There's a lot of money that comes from the federal government to the province that include our numbers," he added.

A member of the Little Black Bear First Nation, Bellegrade was in Fort Qu'Appelle on August 20 for the official opening of the File Hills Health and Social Development Complex.

Saskatchewan residents go to the polls Sept. 16.