FSIN calls for charges against farmers involved in land dispute

The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is demanding that the RCMP charge a family of farmers after they were found on land from which they had been evicted by the Ochapowace First Nation east of Regina.

The Ochapowace band and the Cunday family have been at odds since late March over a parcel of land the Cundays leased from the band for the purpose of farming.

At a media conference Thursday in Saskatoon, Ochapowace Chief Margaret Bear and Ochapowace lands manager Tim Bear laid out their timeline of events concerning the dispute.

They said a pair of meetings were held in late March to discuss back rent on the parcel of land leased by the Cundays. When those discussions weren’t fruitful, the band proceeded to issue an eviction notice, sent by registered mail on April 8, informing the Cundays that they had until April 15 to clear off the land.

The band also warned the Cundays that they’d be in contravention of the Ochapowace trespassing bylaw if they failed to comply.

On April 16, band officials spotted the Cundays on the land and went to tell them they were trespassing. Tim Bear said Thursday that, at that time, the band members saw a rifle sitting in a case “with its barrel exposed” in one of the Cundays’ trucks and that they became fearful and left.

Tim Bear said the Esterhazy RCMP did not send any officers to respond when the band called police.

Margaret Bear said it was a matter of the First Nation’s right to pass and enforce bylaws on its territory and have them enforced by the RCMP, which serves as the community’s police service.

“We call upon the RCMP at this time to enforce our bylaw, our trespassers bylaw, which is recognized by the federal department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada,” she said.

FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said the RCMP’s failure to respond to the call had caused the organization to reconsider signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) meant to promote relationship-building with the police service.

The RCMP has admitted in a statement that not all of its investigative steps were followed in relation to the Ochapowace complaint.

“This morning, the RCMP has admitted that they didn’t do their duty. Now’s your chance to fix it. Now’s your chance to rectify it. We want these individuals charged,” Cameron said.

He added that the incident has left many Indigenous people feeling that there is a double standard at play when it comes to policing.

“If that was an Indian on non-First Nation land, there would be serious consequences. There would be immediate action,” he said.

Farmers respond to trespassing allegations

In a phone interview with 650 CKOM, Richard Cunday said he’d been leasing land from Ochapowace for 35 years.

He said the dispute over the parcel of land in question, located just north of the community of Stockholm, had its roots back in January, when the First Nation issued a notice saying it was changing its system for selling land permits and that anyone wishing to apply for 2019 permits would have to pay any back rent before doing so.

Richard said he and his wife had a bank draft for the final instalment of their 2018 rent when they met with band officials in late March and were informed the land in question had been leased to someone else for 2019.

Richard said they inquired as to whether they’d be able to harvest the soybean crop they had on the land and were told there weren’t any guarantees.

At that point, Richard said they weren’t willing to part with the rent money without a guarantee that they’d be able to get their crop.

He said they offered to have the money held in trust for the First Nation pending their harvest but they didn’t receive a response.

Richard said they consulted with a lawyer and came to the view that the First Nation’s eviction notice wasn’t valid, because it was received after its effective date and listed the wrong Rural Municipality as the location of the land. Further, he said that under the provincial Agricultural Leaseholds Act, they should have had until May 15 to harvest their crop and get their equipment.

Owen Cunday, Richard’s son, was the one who spoke with band members on April 16. He said that in addition to his family’s views about the eviction notice and the provincial law, they had also contacted the current leaseholder of the land and had his permission to be there to finish their harvest.

Owen said that he said as much when he was approached by the band members on April 16 and that he indicated he planned to continue with the harvest.

“They didn’t really seem to like that response too much. But no voices were raised, no tension,” he said.

Owen said he did in fact have a gun in his truck, but noted he’s rarely without it.

“I carry a gun probably 95 per cent of the time. It’s a small .17 HMR rimfire rifle. I shoot gophers, skunks, rodents,” he said, adding that the gun was in its case at the time and that he hadn’t used it that day.

He said the firearm never played any role in the conversation with the band members and said he felt the situation was being blown out of proportion. He said members of the First Nation had dealt with him for years, all while he had a firearm in his vehicle.

Owen said the first he heard that the gun was an issue was from his father, who was flagged down by band members as he was approaching the land with a semi-trailer truck to pick up the crop. At that point, Richard was informed the gun had made people uncomfortable.

“There was no confrontation. There wasn’t a heated argument. There was nothing,” said Owen, who also took issue with accounts saying members of the First Nation approached his truck.

“My story is: I walked over to their truck, probably 50 feet away from my truck. I talked to them for probably 20 minutes. The door was open to my truck and that’s when they saw my gun case. We said, ‘Goodbye, have a good day.’ They drove off. I got back in my truck and carried on with my stuff.”

Owen said the Cundays had completed their harvest and needed to make one more trip to retrieve the last of their equipment. After that, he didn’t plan to do any more business with the First Nation.