Sask. government reverses 'cows and plows' clawback

The Saskatchewan government is changing course a day after more than a dozen Saskatchewan chiefs turned to the media with concerns about a policy that clawed back social assistance benefits from First Nations people receiving funds through Treaty settlements.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Ministry of Social Services said it’s “updating its approach.”

“Our government remains committed to the ongoing journey of reconciliation,” Social Services Minister Gene Makowsky said in the statement.

“After conducting a policy review, the ministry is exempting per capita distribution payments for First Nations members receiving Saskatchewan Income Support or Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability benefits.”

Previously, First Nations citizens who received more than $15,000 from recent settlement claims had their social assistance benefits withheld.

While announcing the move in the legislature on Wednesday, Makowsky called on the federal government to remove a similar cap that can affect federal benefits.

The distribution payments were for historical unfulfilled agricultural commitments laid out in a Treaty 6 clause, signed in 1876.

The policy, often referred to as "Plows and Cows," was meant to push First Nations from a hunting-centric lifestyle to a more European-Canadian agriculture lifestyle of farming and raising livestock. The federal government promised to supply hand tools, farming equipment and seeds. First Nations say the government didn't fulfill these promises.

On Tuesday, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations told reporters it planned to pursue legal action to have the cap removed.

“What the benefits are, are unfinished Treaty business,” FSIN vice-chief Dutch Lerat told CTV News on Tuesday.

“They’re outstanding Treaty obligations.”

-With files from Keenan Sorokan