A true dialogue between Saskatchewan’s indigenous leaders and Husky Energy on the response to a recent oil spill has begun after the two sides met Thursday, according to the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).
FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron recently called for full participation in the response to an oil spill last week near Maidstone, Sask. Between 200- and 250-thousand liters of blended crude oil made its way into the North Saskatchewan River and is being cleaned up.
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Cameron and other indigenous leaders met with politicians and Husky Energy representatives Thursday in North Battleford. The goal of the almost four-hour long meeting was “to begin that dialogue, to begin to have full respect, full inclusion and full communication,” according to Cameron.
“Our inherent and treaty rights, which include lands and waters, is a huge component in our survival off the land, our way of life off the land,” Cameron said after the meeting, which was closed to reporters.
“We look at the lands and waters as our supermarket, our grocery store,” he added.
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Sweetgrass First Nation Chief Lori Whitecalf said the meeting was a “door open for us to fully engage as true partners with… all levels of government and industry,” however expressed frustration that no elected officials from the Saskatchewan Party’s government attended.
“We need to be recognized, we have a lot of capacity now,” Whitecalf said after the meeting.
“We have a huge source of labour, we have partnerships with companies, we have companies that are owned by First Nations within the area.”
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Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall was invited to the meeting, but was “unable to attend,” according to a government spokesperson.
“We did have a representative of Water Security Agency attend,” said the spokesperson in a statement.
However, Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Interim Leader Trent Wotherspoon said the premier was wrong to not show up.
“It’s beyond disappointing that the premier of Saskatchewan and his cabinet didn’t have the integrity to show up at a meeting with leaders here in this province,” said Wotherspoon, who attended the meeting.
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Another absent figure was Husky Energy CEO Asim Ghosh, who was also invited by the FSIN.
“If you want to make things right, you meet with our First Nations leadership, you meet with our people, face to face,” Cameron said.
In an email, a Husky Energy spokesperson said Ghosh had spoken by teleconference the day earlier with FSIN leaders and “assured them we would work together to address their concerns.”
Despite the absences, Cameron said steps forward were taken Thursday. The group voted to send two representatives to the command centre that is handling the response to the spill.
“We’re thankful for that,” Cameron said.
“A little bit of progress, but there’s still a lot more work to get done.”
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