Duty To Consult Summit Ends With Plans For Another

Duty To Consult Summit Ends With Plans For Another

Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at 14:53

First Nations chiefs and six government ministers swapped comments and ideas yesterday in Prince Albert about the duty to consult issue.

The provincial government is currently trying to draft a policy to give bands and industry more certainty and guidelines when it comes to development on traditional First Nations land.

Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson says they talked about issues such as permitting and land sales, and how those processes might change.

Meadow Lake Tribal Council Chief Helen Ben says bands are making it clear they want to see the topic of revenue sharing put on the table for discussion.

However, she’s not sure if the provincial government has the appetite for that.

First Nations and Metis Relations Minister June Draude has, so far, been non-committal about whether or not the Saskatchewan Party government is open to the prospect of sharing resource revenue with bands.

On October 28th, Premier Brad Wall will host another roundtable in Regina.