‘It has to stop:’ Leaders call for help as crisis in Pelican Narrows worsens

By Derek Craddock

On a day meant to recognize and celebrate the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), members and leaders instead took to the microphone to share stories of fear, violence and a health-care system on the brink of collapse.

Using a quote from the words of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago, Chief Karen Bird asked those attending a news conference in Prince Albert and those listening online to listen intently to their cries and pleas for help.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear,” she said in her opening remarks at the conference on Monday, which was also PBCN Day.

Bird and other First Nations leaders in attendance were speaking about the dire situation in Pelican Narrows, roughly 400 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert.

The community has been in a state of emergency since last October, which leaders enacted due to a rise in criminal activity and violent incidents.

As of Monday, that state remains in effect and leadership at PBCN said they can’t lift it because the crime continues to rise, and public safety is a major concern.

Members of the chief and council of PBCN, including Chief Karen Burns and Pelican Narrows councillors Sarah Swam, Elizabeth Michel, and Thomas Linklater, joined representatives from the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC), the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency to share exactly what’s happening in the community and call for immediate action and support.

“We’re facing a storm that’s hitting us hard,” Bird said. “It’s not just about the crime rates that are through the roof. It’s about every part of our community, our health centre, our schools, every place that’s meant to keep us safe and strong. They’re all in crisis.”

Bird read aloud an open letter she sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe on Sunday. which detailed the crisis Pelican Narrows is facing and what the governments can do to help them in the areas of health care, security, and infrastructure.

This follows a community safety proposal that was presented to the governments on Nov. 9 of last year, just a few short weeks after the state of emergency was declared.

“We’ve reached out time and time again with plans and pleas detailed and clear, but the echo of our cries for help have been met with silence,” Bird added.

“Up until now, we haven’t seen a dime of government support for our proposal for community safety. Everything we’ve done, we’ve paid for ourselves, pulling resources from other places that need them, too.”

Councillor Elizabeth Michel said gunshots can be heard every day and night, with drive-by shootings becoming increasingly common.

“Those responsible are using weapons to instill fear in our lives,” she said. “This needs to stop.”

She also mentioned that the local school went into a lockdown last week, leaving students crying and afraid and their parents continuing to worry for their children’s safety.

“The violence we live with today is not normal and we are pleading for help now from anybody,” Michel said.

One of the more emotional speeches from Monday came from David Pratt, the first vice chief of the FSIN.

Pratt used the podium to call out the federal government’s lack of help, given the vast amount of resources available.

“We’re one of the richest countries in the world … We still have to declare a State of Emergency in this day in age when we have so much resources available at our fingertips in government,” he said. “I call upon the prime minister, if you’re serious about reconciliation, if you’re serious about working with First Nations the way you promised in 2015 when you were first elected, then follow through and hear the cries of the leadership on Peter Ballantyne.”

In the area of public safety, Pratt noted that one community safety officer is employed for Pelican Narrows, which has a population of around 4,000 people. Pratt claimed that if this happened in similar-sized cities like Kindersley or Rosetown, the provincial and federal governments would have acted immediately, while First Nations communities must wait months for a response.

While Pelican Narrows does have an RCMP detachment, it is not fully staffed, with about nine members, and response times have not been quick.

“When we do call the RCMP, they take about an hour or two to get to your place,” Swan said. “So, the response time is very slow and by that time, you probably have somebody that is deceased, or we could have prevented them from further harm.”

Swan presented a recent example where she took her daughter to volleyball practice only to witness about five of six youths with a shotgun that was fired. Despite calling 911, Swan said it took officers 20 minutes to arrive and by then, the youths had fled. One of those youths reportedly died by suicide the next week.

The open letter also addressed a dire need for more resources for the Angelique Canada Health Centre in Pelican Narrows, saying it’s inadequately equipped and under immense strain, and that those working there are enduring extreme pressure.

Sarah Van den Broeck, who is originally from the U.K., is a nurse who has worked at the centre for the past seven years. She said that in that time, she has seen violence and crime grow to the point where people are coming in daily with gunshot wounds or injuries from other weapons like machetes, hammers and knives.

Attending to these traumas means that other health-care needs are sometimes pushed to the side. She added that nurses also deal with domestic violence assaults, overdoses and suicide attempts, all of which have brought health-care workers to the breaking point and left them feeling unsafe at work.

“We are literally exhausted, we are unable to sleep at nighttime because of the incessant noise within the community. There are drug houses opposite the nursing suites. There is constant music, there is constant gunshots on a daily basis that just seem to have become the norm, and in no community should that be the case.”

The team has also had to medically evacuate more than 15 people in the past week due to various serious injuries. They are often sent to the closest hospital in Flin Flon and in some cases Prince Albert, which often takes a nurse away from the health centre for eight hours or more a day.

Leadership from PBCN and the PAGC also alleged discrimination and systemic racism at the hands of those at the hospital in Flin Flon.

Van den Broeck said on an almost daily basis, patients are turned away from that facility. She acknowledged that sometimes they can’t receive the specific care they need at that hospital, but other times she’s not certain why they’re sent back.

“For many times we are blocked from sending our patients and we have to fight really hard to get our patients accepted,” she said. “Many of our patients come back to the health centre and say that nothing was done for them or that they were treated poorly and beg not to be sent back there.”

PAGC’s Brian Hardlotte also spoke about the crisis facing Pelican Narrows, saying the community is dealing with three different emergencies: community safety, health care, and the rise in those requiring a medical evacuation.

All those in attendance at the press conference were in agreement that more needs to be done to address these issues, and the answers need to come immediately.

According to the open letter, the PBCN is calling for an immediate increase in nursing staff and 24-hour triage services, security personnel, and bolstering of mental-health supports.

The First Nation is also calling for protective equipment, enhanced perimeter security and upgraded surveillance for the health centre.

Regarding law enforcement, the letter called for the regular assignment of the RCMP Crime Reduction Team to the community, along with more staff and proactive crime prevention initiatives.

Finally, the PBCN wants the federal and provincial governments to provide adequate housing for incoming staff, establish a detox centre and healing lodge, and help with the construction of a new fire hall and the equipment necessary to run it.

The Government of Saskatchewan responded to these pleas from PBCN, saying they heard the concerns from leadership at a meeting on Nov. 9.

In a statement to paNOW, the province said it continues to invest in RCMP, municipal police and First Nations policing, adding they’ve been proactive with the creation of the Warrant Enforcement and Suppression Team and the new Saskatchewan Marshals Service to tackle the issue of rising crime across Saskatchewan.

“The Government of Saskatchewan, the Government of Canada and the Prince Albert Grand Council have signed an agreement to explore new, community-oriented ways to deliver police services and improve safety in First Nations communities,” the provincial government said in its statement. First steps have also been taken toward developing a comprehensive approach to community safety planning for PAGC communities,” the statement read.

“Continuous discussions are taking place regarding First Nations policing with our First Nations and federal partners. We will continue to focus our efforts on making communities safer by continuing investments into the RCMP, supporting First Nations as they explore future policing models, and creating the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.”

paNOW has reached out to the offices of the prime minister and Indigenous Services Canada, and is awaiting a reply.