‘It’ll make a huge difference’: First Nations laws finally enforced

By John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner First Nations chiefs say a new law passed in New Brunswick last spring will have a huge impact on their communities. But the legislation that gives oomph to their bylaws had an unlikely inspiration, unmentioned when it was introduced in the legislature in May. It was conceived in a small community 2,900 kilometres away from Fredericton. Leaders in Muskoday First Nation, just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, spent years working with their provincial government to make their own laws  enforceable by police. Just like in New Brunswick, the RCMP in Saskatchewan were at one time reluctant to enforce First Nations bylaws, arguing they wouldn’t pass the scrutiny of the courts. But then a change came in 2023 when the legislature…

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