Premier Brad Wall addresses reporters at Saskatchewan Legislature. Photo by Manfred Joehnck.
Premier Brad Wall takes exception to allegations that Saskatchewan is ignoring Manitoba treaty rights.
The allegations come from the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, which says Saskatchewan conservation officers have been targeting Aboriginal hunters who were harvesting moose on traditional land near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border.
“I categorically deny some of the allegations made by the chief,” Wall says. “Treaty rights do not trump the province’s right to manage conservation issues, as we would all want, and treaty rights do not trump private property rights.”
The premier did not want to talk about the specifics of the case because it is still under investigation.
Two homes on the Pine Creek First Nation near the Manitoba-Saskatchewan border were raided by Saskatchewan conservation officers last month and moose meat was confiscated.
No charges have been laid, but Derek Nepinak, the Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, says Indigenous hunters are being harassed and bullied by Saskatchewan authorities. He says this must stop.
On another topic, the premier responded to the first provincial election poll which was published today. It shows his party with 59% support, and the NDP with 28% of decided voters.
However, the undecided was pegged at about 16%.
Wall says he is not reading too much into the numbers.
“The horse race questions never changes anything,” he says. “We have never stopped door knocking, we have never stopped working hard to earn the mandate we have now and we are going to work hard to earn the next one on April 4.”
The premier also waded into the food fight going on at the Regina Correctional Centre. For the second time in two months, a group of inmates has launched a hunger strike to protest the quality of food.
About 70 inmates began refusing their food this morning.
Wall says while there have been some complaints about the food, he is confident it is safe and nutritional.
“I am pretty comfortable that inmates are getting a pretty good choice, first of all.,” he says. “If you don’t like prison food, there is one way to avoid it — don’t go to prison.”
Compass Group took over food services for the province’s correctional centres in November. It has a five-year contract with the government aimed at saving about $2.4 million a year.
A Corrections ministry spokesman has said there have been a few start-up problems, but says everything is being worked out.
Food trays are still prepared on site — but it is a private company, rather than government workers, doing the job.