Content Warning: suicide, starvation, anti-Indigenous racism.
Between 2011 and 2016, Indigenous people in Canada were three times more likely to commit suicide than non-Indigenous people. Prompted by this troubling statistic and the failure of Bill 618 on June 19, 2020, Tristen Durocher and Chris Merasty, both of whom are Métis, began a 635-kilometer protest walk across Saskatchewan under the banner “Walking With Our Angels.”
After 28 days, they reached the Saskatchewan Legislature, where Durocher, Merasty, and the supporters who accumulated along the way set up a tipi and began a hunger strike. As the protest continues, the demonstrators goal is to raise awareness for the lack of action taken by the Saskatchewan government after Bill 618 was voted down by a count of 43-13. This bill would have required the Saskatchewan Health Authority to recognize the suicide epidemic as a public health issue and implement a strategy to address it within 180 days.
When Regina police ordered Durocher to take down the tipi and the portrait gallery of Indigenous suicide victims around the campsite,he refused. Later, six officers re-entered the camp to summon Durocher to court.
Law makers are not the only officials urging the peaceful protestors to end their strike; Saskatchewan’s Rural and Remote Health Minister Warren Kaeding asked Durocher to consider Saskatchewan’s suicide prevention strategy, “Pillars for Life” (created in May 2020) as a viable plan.
“Pillars for Life” pledges $1.2 million dollars in its first year to go towards support, training, awareness, means restriction, means safety, and research. Durocher criticized the strategy for being inadequate and for not taking accountability for the inaction that has left residents of Northern Saskatchewan so hopeless.
“I’ve seen too many graves for my young life and I’ve seen too much indifference and political neutrality and kind of just this really disgusting attitude of ‘not our kids not our problem’ that is beyond horrifying,” says Durocher for CBC News.
In the wake of the current civil rights movement calling to defund/abolish the police—and to concomitantly re-allocate funds into communities, healthcare, social services, and so on—the $1.2 million dollars pledged by the Saskatchewan government for suicide prevention seems microscopic, especially in comparison to the $15.1 billion dollars Canada spends annually on municipal, provincial, and federal police services.
“This province is rich, this country is rich, these politicians and their coffers funded by our public have access to the best experts in Saskatchewan, in Canada and the world,” Durocher comments for CBC News. “They could pay for those consultations, the only question is will they and the only question is why haven’t they and another question is when will they?”
At Durocher’s hearing on September 4th, the Judge reserved their decision until a later date. Until then, follow “Walking With Our Angels” on Facebook for direct updates. To get involved and demand that action is taken for Indigenous suicide victims, consider contacting the following government officials:
Warren Kaeding: Minister responsible for Rural and Remote Health
Phone: 306-798-9014
Email: [email protected]
Donna Harpauer: Minister of Finance
Phone: 306-787-6060
Email: [email protected]
Don Morgan: Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Phone: 306-787-5353
Email: [email protected]
Scott Moe: Premier
Phone: 306-787-9433
Email: [email protected]
Resources:
UofT Indigenous Students’ Association
List of Ontario Indigenous Organizations
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