As a municipal election approaches in Saskatoon one Aboriginal advocacy group is hoping to bring urban Indigenous issues to the forefront.
The Coalition of Indigenous Peoples of Saskatchewan says they plan to invite all mayoral candidates to a debate on Indigenous issues.
President Kim Beaudin says the debate will focus on areas of poverty, addictions, homelessness, housing, crime and health.
He says in his experience Indigenous issues do not end up being major factors in municipal elections.
“Any of the candidates who have ran before have never really spoken on Indigenous issues in Saskatoon and I believe it is time that they stepped up to the plate,” said Beaudin.
CIPS recently presented Saskatoon Mayor and Council with a draft Accord to serve as an awareness and educational tool to help mayor and council work with urban Indigenous communities.
“We need to know the various positions of the candidates concerning our issues and whether or not the candidates are prepared to endorse the Accord that our organization presented.” said Beaudin.
The CIPS President says it is still early in the elections campaign, but plans to host the debate at some point in September.
All who have declared their candidacy at that point will be invited to the debate.
The Saskatoon municipal election is scheduled for October 26.