WESTERN PRODUCER — The president of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities says the new trespass legislation shouldn’t prevent people from accessing land for legitimate purposes.
Ray Orb said he has heard the recent concerns from the Office of the Treaty Commissioner that First Nations people weren’t able to enjoy their treaty rights because of the law that came into effect Jan. 1.
“It’s definitely on our radar,” he said in an interview.
Commissioner Mary Culbertson said the amendments, as well as the sell-off of crown land, were breaching treaty obligations. In a letter to the provincial government, she said First Nations were unable to purchase shortfall acres under treaty land entitlement because they aren’t offered first right of refusal when crown land is auctioned.
The trespass amendments are “another example of how drastic the implications are from ignoring the obligations and principles of the treaty relationship that we all inherited,” she wrote. “The… protection of property does not have paramountcy over treaty rights nor will it have impact on property protection when agencies cannot investigate due to lack of resources and interest.”
The amendments require anyone who wants to be on private land to obtain permission first.
Culbertson said First Nations don’t know how to contact the owners of private land to be able to hunt or fish.
Orb said SARM will meet with Betty Nippi-Albright, the NDP MLA from Saskatoon Centre who has raised the issue in the legislature.
He said SARM continues to work with and promote SaskLander, an app that connects landowners with those who want to snowmobile, for example, or to exercise treaty rights.
The app developers presented to last week’s SARM annual convention, saying the app is free to try right now as they seek more support to get it up and running province-wide. They expect it should be available on an app store within a couple of months.
Landowners can post their land locations and which activities are allowed, if any. Potential land users can then contact the landowners, through a secure system, to arrange to be on it.
In early March, 268 landowners had already registered 730 parcels.
People who use private land may present biosecurity risks by potentially spreading invasive plants or diseases such as clubroot.
“We’ve heard that not everyone is thrilled with this,” said premier Scott Moe in his convention speech, but he said it’s the decent thing to do. “And now it’s the law.”
