(Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By paNOW Staff/CKOM News

TRUDEAU IN SASK.

Prime Minister in Saskatchewan to visit James Smith Cree Nation

Nov 28, 2022 | 8:53 AM

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has landed in Saskatchewan.

Trudeau arrived at the James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) Monday morning to pay his respects to the victims of the stabbing rampage in September that left 11 dead and 18 injured in the community as well as the nearby village of Weldon.

A memorial near a church in James Smith Cree Nation where the Prime Minister will visit. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

The suspect in the attacks, Myles Sanderson, later died in police custody.

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Trudeau will meet with Chief Wally Burns and other Indigenous leaders at lunchtime before making an announcement around 3:30.

Since the stabbings, leaders have been calling for all levels of government to come to the table to find Indigenous-led solutions to violence and a lack of resources for policing, addictions and other issues.

James Smith Cree Chief Wally Burns has been among the voices calling for tribal policing and has also said the community needs funding for housing, especially for those reluctant to return to where family members were killed.

Governor General Mary Simon visited the Saskatchewan cemetery on Sept. 28 where most of the victims killed in the rampage are buried, stopping a few minutes at each burial site.

She also stopped for 10 minutes at a ditch where retired military veteran Earl Burns died in his school bus that rolled off the road after he was attacked.

The Prime Minister’s trip follows a visit last month from Public Safety Minister Marco Medicino. Medicino met with leaders at JSCN before signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Province and the Prince Albert Grand Council on foraging a path for First Nations police services.

paNOW’s Nigel Maxwell is at James Smith Cree Nation for the Prime Minister’s visit and will provide updates as the day continues.

– With files from The Canadian Press

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