The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) will place a high priority on youth programs and initiatives in 2017 according to its chief, who recently spoke to Global News for a year-end interview.
“It’s absolutely crucial that we work together to reach out to our youth to let them know that they’re loved and they’re important.”
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Youth issues have always been a priority for the FSIN according to Cameron, however the La Loche school shooting in January and the northern Saskatchewan suicide crisis in October “put more of a focus, more of an emphasis, more of a priority onto our youth.”
“They’re our biggest resource, our biggest asset here in the province of Saskatchewan and within our treaty territories,” Cameron said.
“They’re our future leaders.”
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Cameron said the organization will also work on a number of other files in the new year, including housing, which he said is in huge demand across the province’s reserves.
“We need 13-thousand homes on our First Nations to adequately house our families,” Cameron said.
Cameron noted that the federal government has made an investment of 600 homes for Saskatchewan’s First Nations and indicated that a similar investment would be coming in the future. He added that working with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on issues like housing, education and youth issues will continue into 2017.
“Their commitment on working with indigenous peoples of Canada, on our treaty territories, it is there,” Cameron said.
“Do we want things to happen a lot quicker than slower? Absolutely we do, but we’re still here.”
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