Sylvia McAdam. (gofundme.com)

By Nigel Maxwell

Treaty rights

Sask. woman contests right to live in provincial park

Mar 19, 2019 | 9:54 AM

A founding member of the Idle No More Movement will face a judge this week in Prince Albert, arguing she was within her treaty rights to live in a provincial campground.

In early 2017, Sylvia McAdam and her brother Kurtis McAdam were ordered to leave heir homes at Zig Zag Bay in the Big River area. Speaking with paNOW on Monday, McAdam said she was feeling a bit apprehensive about the trial this week.

“I’ve never gone to court or been subject to a court proceeding before,” she said.

Sylvia and Kurtis were initially contacted by a provincial parks officer in February, 2017, but after failing to comply, were charged with contravening Sect. 25 of the Provincial Parks Act, which prohibits anyone from occupying or using the park land unless in accordance with the Act. At the time she was charged, Sylvia McAdam had been living on the property in her trailer for the better part of two years. McAdam said she was confused when she was told she would have to leave.

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“I was stunned because they are treaty lands and they belonged to my family for generations,” she said.

The trial has been scheduled to start Wednesday morning at Prince Albert Provincial Court, and could last two days. If convicted, McAdam said she has been told by her lawyer she could face a fine or jail time. In order to pay for legal fees, the family created a gofundme account, which has raised over $7,500 to date.

paNOW has reached out to the provincial government for comment but was advised public prosecutions could not comment on cases that were before the courts.

Idle No More was the name given to the grassroots movement formed in 2012, in response to alleged legislative abuses of Indigenous sovereignty and rights. In an effort to raise awareness about their cause, the group has used a number of measures including peaceful protests, round dances, and blockading rail lines.

In a statement posted to the Idle No More website, the group said they stood in solidarity with Sylvia and Kurtis McAdam.

“We insist that Canada, including the province of Saskatchewan, adopt Call to Action 45 (i) of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Report—that is “to repudiate concepts used to justify European sovereignty over Indigenous lands and peoples such as the Doctrine of Discovery and terra nullius.”

Further to their post, the group said at the heart of the legal battle was the Doctrine of Discovery, which they defined as the efforts by the federal, provincial and territorial governments, since the creation of Canada and the 1867 Canadian Constitution Act, to assume control over Indigenous lands.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell