FSIN supports Saskatoon Tribal Council in fight with province

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) says it wants a dispute between the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) and the province to move out of the media and into a boardroom for talks.
 
Speaking in Saskatoon, FSIN Vice-Chief Robert Merasty pleaded for both sides to work towards a resolution.
 
“The ‘blame game’ and political posturing, and I’ll say it: going in the media — doesn’t resolve this,” he said.
 
Merasty said the FSIN stands behind the STC, which has refused to hand over case files of kids living in care on-reserve to the province.
 
He said any solution has to keep bands at the core of caring for children in their communities.
 
“That’s what we need at this point, is the province to help us build capacity to take care of our own,” he said.
 
Merasty added that it was difficult to have faith in the province to handle child welfare on its own.
 
“The province does not have a good history. You look at the child welfare reports, the province does not have a good record of taking care of these young ones,” he said.