Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson was in Ottawa on Monday brining forward concerns from Saskatchewan First Nations to the federal government.
Several First Nation leaders met with the Mark Carny government to bring forward these concerns.
Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Chief Cook-Searson explained three main areas of concern she brought forward. These were the slow process of Bill S-2, the call for the Timber Bay Children’s Home to be recognized as a residential school, and continued concerns on the National Resource Transfer Agreement.
Bill S-2 is a Senate-passed bill proposing a ‘one-parent rule’ to eliminate the second-generation cutoff under the Indian Act. Under current laws, if a status parent has children with a non-status partner, those children are registered as “6-2,” and if they in turn have children with a non-status partner, their grandchildren lose treaty rights entirely.
Chief Cook-Searson says this is a “harmful” process.
“We are asking the federal government to pass the Bill S-2 and adopt the one-parent rule, because there is discrimination against our children, there is discrimination against our children into the future.”
The Bill has passed the senate and is currently before the House of Commons.
Chief Cook-Searson also pressed federal and provincial leaders for what she called long-overdue justice regarding the Timber Bay Children’s Home.
Having operated for 40 years funded by both levels of government, Timber Bay was omitted from the 2006 Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement.
Despite decades of legal battles stretching to the Supreme Court, survivors have been repeatedly blocked from recognition.
“We’ve gone to the courts; we’ve gone to Supreme Court to try and get it added under Article 12 of the residential school agreement, and we haven’t been able to be successful,” said the LLRIb Chief. “We are asking both levels of government, the province and the federal government, to come to the table to negotiate and finalize an agreement with the survivors and families of Timber Bay Children’s Home.”
Adding to these appeals, Chief Cook-Searson highlighted the enduring impacts of the 1930 Natural Resources Transfer Agreement, enacted without First Nations consultation or involvement.
She emphasized that this historic oversight continues to affect communities today, urging federal and provincial partners to work collaboratively toward a genuine path forward.
(TOP PHOTO – Chief Tammy Cook-Searson speaks with reporters following her meeting with the Carney government. Screenshot from CPAC)