Government action plan met with mixed reviews

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"Same old, same old" is the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nation's (FSIN) response to the Saskatchewan government's latest action plan for the province's Aboriginal peoples and the justice system.

On May 12, the Saskatchewan government unveiled its action plan that Justice Minister Frank Quennell said is designed to improve health, justice and safety in the province.

The 62-page plan calls on the government to work with Aboriginal groups to improve the lot of First Nations and Metis people in society, in areas beyond that of law and order.

To address the roots of crime, the action plan states, the province will spend $48 million across five different government ministries to address some of the major problems within Saskatchewan's Aboriginal community. But FSIN Vice Chief Lawrence Joseph said the provincial government appears more interested in providing services to Aboriginal people, rather than recognizing the inherent right of Aboriginal peoples to do these sorts of things for themselves, including implementing their own law enforcement and judicial systems.

"There's new money for more police to put Indians in jail, more Aboriginal positions within the provincial government structure, and more symbols to placate First Nations," he said. "The province's plan is more of the same things that have been tried before."

He predicted that many of the initiatives announced by Quennell would fail because the provincial government made no move to involve Aboriginal governments or the FSIN when they announced the action plan.

"We should have been consulted. We should have been the ones talking to the province about what should be done. Instead they never talked to us. Personally, I found out about the action report a half hour before it was officially released."

Quennell calls the vice-chief's comments "surprising." The FSIN, along with Aboriginal groups and individuals, played an important role in setting the parameters for the debate over Aboriginal peoples and the Saskatchewan law enforcement, judicial, and correctional systems, he said

"The justice reform committee ... had representatives who were First Nations and Metis people on the commission. The commission heard from Aboriginal peoples throughout the province, who wanted to make themselves heard, and the recommendations come from those people," the minister said.

"We've worked closely with the FSIN on our discussions regarding the new police complaints commission ... if our government didn't have meetings with the FSIN as well as with the provincial chiefs of police and the respective police associations, there's no way we could have introduced that legislation."

The province's action plan calls for an interconnected response by the provincial departments of Corrections, Justice, Health, Community Resources and Education. A co-ordinated strategy is needed to address the concerns of health, living standards and education, Quennell said.

Among the promises being made, the government says it will increase the number of spots for youth under the CareerStart program by 1,000, increase the number of low-income housing units to be built, add child care spaces (especially for families of children with special needs,) refocus its alcohol and drug strategy programs to target young people, Aboriginal people and northern residents, strengthen programs for those affected with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and their families, develop shared educational standards between reserve schools and schools in the provincial school system, and develop educational programs for young offenders in custody.

On the law enforcement side, the action plan also reiterates the province's promise, made during the provincial budget, that 18 new police officers would be hired this year, and 49 new positions for police officers over the next three years. The RCMP and municipal police forces will hire Aboriginal applicants wherever possible, Quennell said.

Thatwon't matter if the police officers are going to be enforcing the same old laws in the same old fashion, counters Joseph. Instead, he proposes the establishment of a province-wide tribal police force, one whose duties would go beyond the role of most police officers- they would also become social workers and justices of the peace.

"The police officers have to be leaders in the community. They have to play a role in crime prevention, going to our communities, talking to our students in our schools, being part of the community. They can't just ride into town or onto the reserve, put the bad guys in the back of the squad car and not be seen again."

The province has also introduced legislation to create an independent police complaints commission, which will have its own investigative staff as well as representatives from the First Nations and Metis communities.

The judicial side is also set for a makeover. Sometime between now and the end of March 2006, an Aboriginal Provincial Court circuit, based out of Meadow Lake, will be created to serve northwestern Saskatchewan. The action plan also calls for more Aboriginal justices of the peace, Crown prosecutors, legal aid staff, corrections workers and judges to be employed in the system.

An overhaul of Saskatchewan's correctional system is also included in the plan. The most public change comes in the planned closure of the old wing of the Regina Correctional Centre. Its dungeon-like conditions will be history, with a new wing scheduled to open in 2008.

The province will also expand alternative measures programs and seek alternatives to court and incarceration in many cases.