An Indigenous protest camp ordered to remove their property from the Wascana grounds by Sunday at noon remains Monday morning.
The Provincial Capital Commission partially dismantled the camp early Friday, granting the camp more time to disassemble the teepee and extinguish the sacred fire under a negotiated agreement.
The teepee did come down briefly over the weekend, but camp organizer Prescott Demas says the protesters are not leaving.
“We put it right back up because we’re not going anywhere,” Demas said.
The provincial government says it is disappointed the protesters have not honoured their agreement.
“On Friday, we believed we had an agreement in good faith with the group camped across from the Saskatchewan legislature. This agreement was for the sacred fire and teepee to be removed by Sunday at noon. The group had proposed this to the government and we accepted that as reasonable. It is very disappointing to see the group not uphold that agreement after they had committed to doing so,” the Saskatchewan government said through a statement.
Demas says he has extended an invitation to meet with Social Services Minister Paul Merriman for this Friday, yet has not received a response.
The government says it is willing to meet once the camp has been taken down.
“We have said we would be happy to have further discussions once the camp was dismantled. Our commitment remains, but unfortunately it appears we do not have a willing partner in this agreement. Next steps are being discussed, but we continue to hope the teepee and camp will be removed as was agreed to previously.”
(PHOTO: Teepee and camp remain Monday. Photo by Dan Jones.)