The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations spring legislative assembly wrapped up Thursday in Swift Current.
On Wednesday, Brad Wall was the first premier to both address the assembly and answer questions from the floor.
During his address, Wall talked about the use of temporary foreign workers in the province at a time when unemployment is still high in Saskatchewan’s First Nations population.
“If you consider the gap between First Nations engagement in the economy and employment and employment for the entire population, I think it’s fair to ask the question, ‘Would we need the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, at all – should we need it,’” he asked. “But if we are facing a labour shortage today, chiefs, in Saskatchewan – and we are – then we should ask ourselves everyday – and we are in government, imperfectly I admit – we are asking ourselves, ‘What are we doing to close the gap to deal with the labour shortage with Saskatchewan people first, with First Nations Saskatchewan people first?’”
For his part, FSIN Chief Perry Bellegarde says he is glad the chiefs-in-assembly have agreed to set aside some of the new revenues from soon to be added additional slot machines at Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority casinos to address the federation’s funding shortfall.
“They’re allocating a portion of the new revenues, generated from the 250 new machines, to be directed to the FSIN governance operations,” he says. “And I was really thankful for that because that’s basically sustaining and securing into the future our FSIN operations.”
As for whether he plans to seek the newly vacated position of Assembly of First Nations chief, Bellegarde remains non-committal.
“Well, you know, right now, the chiefs are meeting on May 27 in Ottawa – there’s a special assembly called and that’s one of the items for discussion there. For me, the best use of my time right now is stabilizing our operations here at FSIN and I’ve committed to that. And, after May 27, you know, we’ll have another dialogue with our chiefs-in-assembly and we have to wait for that decision, from the chiefs assembly on the 27th.”
Shawn Atleo abruptly resigned as assembly chief earlier this month after widespread opposition amongst Aboriginal leaders to his support of the controversial Harper government’s First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act.
Bellegarde lost to Atleo in the 2009 AFN national chief election in a marathon vote that went eight ballots.