Six communities in Saskatchewan will be hosting sharing circles between Sixties Scoop survivors and the provincial government in October and November.
The government says in a news release that the sharing circles will help “inform a meaningful apology from the Government of Saskatchewan.”
Yet Sixties Scoop Indigenous Society of Saskatchewan Board Member Rod Belanger, says an apology should only come after the government has demonstrated that it is trying to right a wrong, suggesting provincial compensation.
“I know that compensation will never replace the fact that people’s lives were destroyed by this apprehension era. At the same time there should be some compensation for this group of people,” said Belanger.
Former Premier Brad Wall announced in June 2016 that the provincial government would be apologizing to the survivors, but that no compensation would be coming.
The Sixties Scoop refers to when Indigenous children were removed from their homes by provincial child welfare services and placed in non-Indigenous homes, with the province participating in the adoptions between 1966 and 1975.
Premier Scott Moe would not commit to personally going to a sharing circle saying others in his Cabinet would be. “We’re looking forward to hearing their stories and working with them on opportunities that come from those stories. We’re looking forward to formalizing an apology, as we’ve committed to, an apology that is meaningful to those involved,” Moe stated.
Belanger says he does not see much need in Moe attending, viewing it as a photo opportunity. However, Belanger stresses the apology should not be an ending for Sixties Scoop survivors.
“It’s just another form of trying I guess just brush things under the rug sort to say. There’s a lot more to the process than just telling people you’re sorry especially when lots of people don’t know what the problems that they’re really saying sorry for,” explained Belanger.
(PHOTO: A group of Sixties Scoop survivors with Deputy Premier Gord Wyant and First Nations and Metis Relations Minister Warren Kaeding. Photo provided by Robert Doucette.)