Sask. premier pledges 'resources' for residential school burial site search but no funding 'at this point'
In the wake of Ontario's pledge to provide $10 million to help identify and commemorate unmarked residential school burial sites, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe promised resources to help search for the sites but stopped short of committing funding.
The work of locating the unidentified burial sites has taken on increased urgency following the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former residential school in Kamloops.
During a virtual news conference following the annual Western Premier's Meeting, Moe was the first to respond to a general question put to leaders about whether similar funding plans were in the works in their respective jurisdictions.
"It's entirely likely that we'll have, maybe not to the degree, but a similar situation with some unmarked sites with remains here in this province and so we've been working very closely with our Indigenous communities, with our provincial Indigenous representative organization the FSIN," Moe said.
"We have not committed to any financial funding at this point."
Moe said his government views its role as "one of support."
"We have committed to providing resources that may be required to ensure that we are able to conduct the work that needs to be conducted in our province to work alongside and support our Indigenous communities and Indigenous organizations that will be the lead on this work."
During the news conference, Alberta Premier Jason Kenny said a "multi-million dollar" package was in the way in his province.
The traditional joint communique issued by the leaders following the meeting began by referencing the discovery in Kamloops.
"The confirmation of remains at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation is a reminder that multi-generational trauma stemming from residential schools is not in the past: it continues to affect Indigenous peoples today," the statement said.
The communique issued by the leaders of Canada's four western provinces and three territories focused on a call for increased health care funding from the federal government and the post-pandemic economic recovery.
In the joint statement, the leaders again called on the federal government to increase its share of health care spending to 35 per cent through the Canada Health Transfer CHT.
"Six months ago, in December 2020, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the federal government needs to increase its share of health funding through the CHT," the statement said.
"He committed to have conversations about this with premiers – the time for those conversations is now."
The group of provincial and territorial leaders also said there is a need for "greater market access for Canadian goods, services, and resources, including energy products, and the crucial role that the energy sector will play in economic recovery."
Less than a week after the beleaguered Keystone XL pipeline expansion was officially cancelled, the leaders "agreed on the urgency of getting major energy infrastructure, transmission projects, and other infrastructure projects completed in a timely fashion."
In the statement, the leaders recognized federal spending on infrastructure projects while encouraging "continued collaboration and partnerships to address longstanding infrastructure gaps."
The communique also said "it will be important to ensure that the benefits of, and participation in, economic recovery are broadly shared, in particular by Indigenous people."
The leaders called for "streamlined approval processes"and "simplified administration and reporting" for provinces.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report. Of the 15 most polluted cities in the two countries, 14 were in Canada.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
WATCH LIVE As former prime minister Mulroney lies in state, public tributes in Ottawa begin
Members of the public who wish to pay tribute to Brian Mulroney can visit his casket in Ottawa starting this afternoon.
BREAKING Roy McMurtry, former Ontario attorney general, dies at 91
CTV News has confirmed that former Ontario attorney general Roy McMurtry has died.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.