A northern Saskatchewan MLA says separation talks in Saskatchewan are “disrespectful” to treaties and Indigenous rights.
Over the next month, the political group Unified Grassroots will be holding several town halls advocating for the province’s separation from Canada.
The first of the town halls will be in Saskatoon this Sunday with one planned for as far north as Meadow Lake.
Separation talks in the province have increased since the April 28 federal election that saw Mark Carney’s Liberal Party elected to form a minority government.
This rhetoric has been met with outrage, with several First Nations groups and communities from both Saskatchewan and Alberta concerned about Treaty rights and sovereignty.
In a conversation with MBC News, Athabasca MLA Leroy Laliberte says these town halls are harmful and he understands why First Nations groups have been speaking out against the rhetoric.
“It’s understandable why the First Nations would be upset,” Laliberte told MBC News. “Talk of separatism, it completely ignores the inherited rights and nation to nation treaties that were signed with the crown. It’s disrespectful. It’s divisive. And it needs to stop.”
Laliberte also believes these talks are harmful to the economy and can negatively affect everyone in the province.
He says the Saskatchewan NDP will continue to speak out on the issue and continue to push for the passing of a bill that would raise the threshold for a referendum on the province’s separation from Canada.
The northern Saskatchewan MLA is also calling on Premier Scott Moe to officially denounce separation talks in the province.
“The SaskParty should spend more time listening to the First Nations people rather than the separatists in the Unified Grassroots group,” he said.
While the SaskParty government has said they do not support separation they have never specifically denounced the separatist rhetoric of the Unified Grassroots party.
The full conversation with Leroy Laliberte is available here.