Members of the Saskatchewan government met with the Sixties Scoop Indigenous Survivors Sask (SSISS) earlier this week.

In discussion with issues related to the Sixties Scoop, personal stories shared, how the Sixties Scoop has impacted the survivors lives and the expected apology to come, SSISS members met with Deputy Premier Gord Wyant and Minister of First Nation, Metis and Northern Affairs Warren Kaeding on April 17th in Regina at the Legislature.

(L-R: Back) Minister First Nation, Metis & Northern Relations, Warren Kaeding, Rod Belanger, Noreen Blackstar, Leticia Racine, Deputy Premier Gord, Wyant and Robert Doucette. (Front) Audrey Benn, Melissa Parkyn, Anna Mcarthur, Patricia Whitebear and Vince Vandale. Photo courtesy of Robert Doucette.

SSSISS Co-chair and lead spokesperson for the meeting, Melissa Parkyn, felt the invitation was encouraging by the provincial government to talk about the issues of the Sixties Scoop and the apology that has yet to come.

“This is the first of future discussions with the government of Saskatchewan and we look forward to working in partnership with the government of Saskatchewan to develop a process that will give survivors an opportunity to be heard in safe surroundings,” said Parkyn in a media release. “Ultimately, this will lead to a meaningful apology based on what Sixty scoop survivors feel is important.”

This was a preliminary meeting with SSISS members who provided some insight to the representatives of the provincial government with their main point of discussion to an apology to the Sixties Scoop survivors, as stated in the release. Details of when the apology will happen have not been released.

SSISS members shared some of their personal stories to provided some insight to the Deputy Premier Wyant and Minister Kaeding on how the sixties scoop has impacted their lives. This was a preliminary meeting with the main point of discussion related to an apology from the government of Saskatchewan to the Saskatchewan sixty scoop survivors. In June 2015, former Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall made a statement that an apology was to be made to the survivors but has yet to happen. On October 6th, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Carolyn Bennett issued an apology on behalf of the federal government.