Justice for our Stolen Children protest sets up again, days after it was shut down

The Justice for our Stolen Children protest camp was back on the lawn of the legislative building Thursday evening, just three days after it was shut down.

The protest camp in Wascana Park was served an eviction notice on June 5 for violating park bylaws.

On Friday, Regina police shut the camp down. The teepee was allowed to remain up for another 48 hours.

More than 48 hours later, the teepee and protestors remained at the campsite. On Monday, Regina police arrested six protestors at the camp for obstructing justice. The teepee was removed and the protest campsite was completely shut down.

On Thursday evening, National Indigenous Peoples Day, a large crowd of people returned to the legislative lawns as the teepee was hoisted back up, including File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council Chief Edmund Bellegarde.

The camp had previously been setup for 111 days, in response to the acquittals of Gerald Stanley and Raymond Cormier in the deaths of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine.

“I think the issue is that our citizens are suffering from a poor public system, from child and family services, to inadequate health care, to challenges in accessing education, to affordable housing, to issues of social and economic challenges,” Chief Bellegarde said in a video posted to Facebook Thursday evening.

“There’s so many issues that are plaguing our citizens and our citizens have a voice. Our citizens are here to let their voices be heard, our citizens are here to stand up and not accept what the system is portraying as just. What the system is saying is the rule of law, the legal frameworks in Canada need to change.”

Bellegarde said the push for change isn’t going to stop.

“They will push for change, they will push for their rightful place, they will push for adequate resources, they will push for more appropriate laws, they will push for access to our own lands,” Bellegarde added.