FSIN wants province, tribal council to resolve child welfare issues

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is standing in solidarity with the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) following the province's decision to strip the tribal council of its jurisdiction over child welfare in its seven member communities.

"We've wanted to sit down with the province, and certainly we fully support the Saskatoon Tribal Council, Chief Felix Thomas and their member bands," said FSIN second vice-chief Robert Merasty.

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Social Services announced that it intends to confiscate child welfare files from the STC due to, what it says, was a continual refusal on the tribal council's part to provide the information to the province.

• Sask. government taking over child welfare programs from Saskatoon Tribal Council

The STC, in turn, has filed for an interim injunction against the province collecting the child welfare files for on-reserve children in its member communities.

"It's a legal battle around jurisdiction, and I'll say it - it's a legal battering over financial resources," said Merasty.

But the FSIN said it's time for all parties to "stop playing the blame game," and that "political posturing and going to the media" isn't the way to resolve the issue.

"We need to sit down with the province, and we've asked for that repeatedly. We want to sit down with the provincial ministers and talk about how we build capacity."