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Sixties Scoop apology from Sask. could be another 2 years away

A member of the group that the province says it’s directly working with in preparation for a formal apology for the Sixties Scoop says if Saskatchewan follows Alberta’s path it could be another two years before the apology comes.

FSIN says survivors are the right group to consult with

Chelsea Laskowski · CBC ·
Deputy Premier Gord Wyant said on Monday the conversation his government is having with survivors is similar to the ones had in Alberta. (CBC)

If Saskatchewan follows Alberta's path it could be another two years before a formal apology for the Sixties Scoop comes, according to one person working with the province in preparation.

You know, it's not going to happen overnight,- Robert Doucette, Sixties Scoop survivor

Premier Rachel Notley delivered Alberta's government apology on Monday in legislature. 

Robert Doucette said it "was a very good apology." He's with Sixty Scoop Indigenous Society Saskatchewan (SSISS), a group working directly with the province in preparing an apology. 

During the Sixties Scoop, provincial child welfare workers across Canada took thousands of Indigenous children from their families, placing them in mostly non-Indigenous homes from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Doucette said Alberta provided two years of resources to engage survivors across the province, and that the province of Saskatchewan is currently talking survivor engagement with the SSISS group after recently having their second meeting.

"You know, it's not going to happen overnight," Doucette said.

Saskatchewan Deputy Premier Gord Wyant said the meetings, which Doucette calls very encouraging, have included the minister of social services government relations and himself.

"[The apology] can only be meaningful once we've, once we've heard the stories, once we've heard their stories of the pain and anguish that they went through as a result of what happened to their families," Wyant said.

FSIN says it's not part of talks

Wyant's comments focusing on the SSISS show a shift in who the Saskatchewan government says it's talking to in preparation for a formal apology for the Sixties Scoop.

Back in March, Premier Scott Moe said the government was working with First Nations and Métis leadership to draft an apology, which he said he would personally deliver.

"We've reached out to First Nation groups to say 'you make the call,'" Wall said. "We will do it wherever and whenever."

Woman speaking to reporters.
Heather Bear, Vice Chief of the FSIN, said a conversation around compensation for victims of the Sixties Scoop has started and she will support them going forward. (Brandon Harder/CBC)

Heather Bear, Vice Chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, confirmed there had been talks with the province about the FSIN being involved in Sixties Scoop apology preparations.

"There was attempts for the province to seek out that apology with the FSIN but we, we thought that wasn't our place," she said, adding that she is in support of survivors being the ones involved.

Back in November, FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said the province's apology should come with $200 million in compensation for the families of the victims. After outcry from members of survivors groups, he said it was only a suggestion.

"Certainly at the table that we've been having with the survivors we're not talking about compensation, we're talking about listening to the voices of the survivors," Wyant said on Monday.

Bear said she doesn't think Cameron's previous comments were a mistake.

"I don't think the chief was out of line but I think you know it's a conversation that has started and we all move forward together supporting, you know, supporting the survivors," Bear said.

Doucette said the SSISS had moved the Sixties Scoop agenda to the fore, which makes the group the right one for the apology discussions.

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