The Premier is strongly condemning the actions of two individuals removing a monument established in honour of the unmarked graves and burials at residential schools in Saskatchewan and across Canada.
In the video, recorded by the Regina Leader-Post, a man and a woman can be seen at the steps of the Legislative Assembly Friday shoveling materials of the monument into a black garbage bag.
As the man is shoveling candles, backpacks and other objects in to the bag he refers to it as trash, which has not been cleaned up in months.
“They haven’t cleaned it up once,” said the man.
The pair are then approached by a Wascana Centre Community Safety Officer, in which the man asks the unidentified officer to maintain six-feet distance.
The pair claim the monument is a public safety issue, as they continue placing objects in the bag. “It’s littering,” the man said.
As the Community Safety Officer attempts to grab the full garbage bag, both the man and the woman begin to argue over the contents.
“They’re going to take it to the dump,” the woman said. The man retorts, “You haven’t taken this garbage for three months. It’s been sitting out here.”
The man finally releases the bag to the officer.
“Premier Moe strongly condemns these actions, and has noted that these are the same protestors responsible for several idiotic actions over the past several months,” explained. Moe’s Press Secretary Julie Leggott. “We have been informed that a Wascana Centre Community Safety Officer retrieved these items, and did not allow the protestors to destroy them. The items that were disrespectfully removed by these protestors will be returned to the steps of the Legislative Building to continue the memorial that honoured the recent discovery of unmarked graves.”
In late June, the Cowessess First Nation revealed it had discovered 751 potential graves at the former Marieval residential school. Since then, several Saskatchewan First Nations have begun ground-penetrating radar in search of unmarked graves.
(Photo by Dan Jones)