The Saskatchewan Advocate
The Aboriginal Court
By Judge Don Bird • Provincial Court of Saskatchewan • Meadow Lake
The announcement of a new court, titled "The Aboriginal Court", came in early 2006. The court will be based at Meadow Lake and will serve the outlying communities and First Nations. It will have the added capacity to conduct court proceedings in Cree or Dene, hence the name.
The Aboriginal Court is meant to address the issue of equal access to the court and related issues for people living in north-western Saskatchewan. One of the first tasks was to identify the communities that would become part of the Aboriginal Court Circuit. That was achieved through consultation with Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) Elders, leaders and justice officials, as well as other leaders in the area affected by the change. It has now been determined that the Aboriginal Court circuit will include two existing court points: Loon Lake and Big Island Cree Nation. In addition, the Court will travel to three new court points, namely: Buffalo River Dene Nation (Dillon), English River First Nation (Patuanak), and Canoe Lake Cree Nation. The three latter court points were selected primarily because of the distances required to get to existing court points at Buffalo Narrows or Beauval. Another criterion used in the selection of the court points was the extensive use of Aboriginal languages in those communities.
The formation of the Aboriginal Court and the expectations put upon it will necessitate reconciling Aboriginal ideas of justice with traditional Canadian views. For example, the medicine wheel teaches that there are four aspects to our human nature: the physical; the mental; the emotional; and the spiritual. Each of these aspects must be equally developed in a healthy, well-balanced individual through the development and use of volition (i.e. will).
The court will also be seeking the counsel of Elders since they have always played and still do play a very large role in Aboriginal communities. The court will also be looking at instituting the therapeutic court model to deal with issues such as domestic violence and drug addiction. Dealing with other issues will follow as services become available.
Work undertaken during this past summer and fall included identifying facilities for the new court points, and making logistics and travel arrangements since some court points require air travel. The final arrangements are nearing completion and the official start date for the court has been set for December 1, 2006.
Members of the court party includes Judge Don Bird, who was appointed to the bench in May, 2006. He is fluent in the Cree language and a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation. He is a former probation officer, RCMP officer and was employed as a Crown Prosecutor for the Cree court at the time of his appointment.
Dora Buxton is now on staff with the court. She is a member of the Waterhen Lake First nation, is fluent in the Cree language and will fill the role of court clerk and Cree interpreter.
Audrey Piche also recently joined the court. She is a member of the English River First Nation, is fluent in the Dene language and will also fill the roles of court clerk and Dene translator.
Tim Nolan, who is of Metis ancestry and formerly from North Battleford, has accepted the position of Crown Prosecutor.
Defence counsel assigned to the court has yet to be announced.
