Province urges tobacco tax changes for First Nations

First Nations leaders want the provincial government to butt out of its tobacco business.

Even before the province released its latest budget on March 24, government officials were hinting about reducing the number of cigarette cartons a person could purchase on-reserve as well as decreasing the tax free exemption.

That immediately sparked the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) into action.

Vice-Chief Morley Watson called the province’s proposal to decrease the personal tax free exemption on tobacco purchases by status Indians a “blatant attack” on treaty rights and First Nations’ ability to develop their economies.

“Some of our communities have a limited number of avenues to generate revenue,” he said.

In its budget, the province announced a Status Indian could purchase one carton of cigarettes a week instead of three. The government says it wants to stop tax-free tobacco from getting into the hands of non-First Nations people as well as help reduce the high rates of smoking on reserves.

Watson calls the health issue a smokescreen. He said if health is what it’s really about, there are plenty of other issues the province could help First Nations with.

“If it’s really a health issue, we’re saying ‘that’s good,’ but we have other health issues such as diabetes, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, living in moldy houses, we receive no help from any form of government. And most of all, the most disappointing thing is our young people continue to commit suicide, and we receive no help,” he said.

Watson added that there was no consultation with First Nations before the government made this announcement or even before it was mentioned in Premier Brad Wall’s state of the province address the week before. In a release, the FSIN says it learned of the proposal minutes before the address.

“To us, this is nothing more than Indian Agent mentality. The old Indian Agent would tell us how much grain, how much wood, how much fence posts and other goods we could produce to properly provide for our families,” Watson said.

New legislation needs to be proclaimed before the changes on tobacco would take place.

FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild said the proposals are serious concerns to First Nations – which he plans to address at the first bilateral meeting with the province.

“That’s a $30 million issue for 106 stores across Saskatchewan,” he said.

Since the budget announcement, the FSIN has been meeting with chiefs from across the province, as well as on-reserve storeowners. Watson said they were also speaking to lawyers and were considering all options, including possible legal ones. More such discussions are expected to take place in April. Lonechild also wants the discussion with the province to happen very soon.

“We just need a more open dialogue about what it is we’re trying to achieve here. Are we trying to create jobs and employment so we can have revenue shared more equally with our First Nations people? They need to make that statement that they are with us as partners, and that’s a critical meeting in my opinion,” he said.