Primrose Money Coming To Metis
Thursday, March 17, 2005 at 16:50
There’s word the federal government, and possibly the province, are set to announce a multi-million-dollar funding package for four Metis communities in northwest Saskatchewan.
Finance Minster Ralph Goodale will make it official tomorrow morning at a news conference in Regina.
The communities of Ile-a-la-Crosse, Beauval, Cole Bay and Jans Bay have long demanded compensation for the displacement of Metis elders from their traditional lands in the 1950s.
That’s when the government forced them out in order to establish the Primrose Lake Air Weapons Range.
Metis negotiator Jim Durocher says the communities are getting $19.5 million over five years, with the promise of more to come.
Durocher says the government is not calling this package compensation. Officially, the money will be called funding for infrastructure needs and economic development.
However, he says the communities will direct some of the money directly to the families affected by the displacement several decades ago.