In the quiet early morning hours Friday, the Provincial Capital Commission, escorted by Regina Police entered an Indigenous protest camp on the Wascana grounds across from the Legislative Building and began to enforce an eviction order given June 2.
The Provincial Capital Commission stated on June 6 that it did expect to enforce the eviction notice, but did not say when.
Protester Robyn Pitawanakwat says workers and Central Services Deputy Minister Richard Murray entered camp just before 5 a.m. to being to dismantle tents. “There were multiple white trucks here on the lawn. They were dismantling all the equipment, all the tents. We were able to control a little bit how they did and what they took,” said Pitawanakwat.
The only structure that remains is the teepee, as the protesters were able to negotiate with the government that it can remain until noon on Sunday due to the cultural significance of the sacred fire.
“On June 2nd, notice was given to the group by the Provincial Capital Commission stating that they would need to vacate the premises and remove their property from the park by June 5th. The group refused to remove the camp,” stated Jim Billington, Press Secretary to the Premier. “This morning the Provincial Capital Commission enforced the eviction notice with the assistance of the Regina Police Service in removing the group and their property from the park. We have been advised that this occurred peacefully with no arrests.”
Pitawanakwat says she expected the eviction enforcement to come in the night. “We had a sense that things would come when people were sleeping. They wanted to catch people off guard and they definitely did. We were expecting that something would happen, but we didn’t know when and they came when several people were sleeping,” Pitawanakwat explained.
The camp was originally erected approximately 107 days ago to raise public awareness to what organizers say was injustices to Indigenous Peoples, particularly the acquittals in murder trials of Gerald Stanley and Raymond Cormier.
“There’s nothing peaceful about removing Indigenous People from the land in order to celebrate Canada. It was devastating for the people here,” Pitawanakwat said.
The protesters and the government have been trying unsuccessfully to establish a meeting on several occasions. “As recently as June 13th, Minister Cheveldayoff, Minister Merriman, Minister Morgan and Minister Kaeding visited the camp,” Billington stated.
A camp organizer Prescott Demas says he wanted to meet with the ministers on their camp rather than in the Legislative Building as it would make him feel more comfortable. He says he was trying to setup a meeting with Minister Paul Merriman for later this month, but was unsuccessful.
Justice Minister Don Morgan says the decision to remove the camp now was a timing matter as Wascana Park accommodates more activities in the summer. “The area around Wascana is not intended to be a campground. It’s there for the benefit and use of all citizens. We’ve had a number of events over the last little while that we’ve had to postpone or move,” Morgan said.
Morgan stated that a compromise with protesters on sharing the land for other purposes was not achievable. “There’s been a number of different issues. There’s not sort of a collective voice. Initially it started off following the Gerald Stanley verdict, and then there have been a number of issues raised since regarding Social Services, regarding on-reserve housing,” said Morgan.
The Sask. government says it has heard the concerns from protesters. Central Services Minister Ken Cheveldayoff says a protest camp is not needed to get the ear of the government. “Our message to them is they don’t need to have a campground like that to get the attention or to meet with this government or to meet with ministers. I think there’s been some good exchanges and follow up that is committed to,” said Cheveldayoff.
Morgan says he is still committed to hearing the concerns from the protesters and said he would go to the Red Pheasant First Nation to meet with the Chief to continue this conversation.
(With files from Joel Willick)
(PHOTO: Indigenous protesters among the remains of their camp near the Saskatchewan Legislature after being evicted by police. Photo by Dan Jones.)