Regina INAC office reopens to public after meeting with protesters
Protesters camping outside the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) office marked a small victory Thursday as the doors opened to the public for the first time in nearly two weeks.
“We have met with INAC, we had the first of hopefully many meetings to come on Tuesday where we asked that they re-open their doors, that they start serving the public that they are paid to serve,” said Robin Pitawanakwat, who organized the original protest.
When the doors were unlocked on Thursday, she said the move signaled that the federal department is willing to listen to the concerns of the people. The camp sprang up on April 18 in solidarity with #OccupyINAC protests in other cities to address mental health services on remote reserves like Attawapiskat.
The core group at the “Colonialism No More – Solidarity Camp” is also calling on the government to provide more than ‘band-aid’ solutions to issues like inadequate, overcrowded housing and clean drinking water on reserves across Saskatchewan.