Sipekne’katik First Nation has passed a resolution banning Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston, Justice Minister Scott Armstrong, and minister responsible for L’nu Affairs Leah Martin from band lands, calling them “undesirables.”
The move comes after Armstrong issued a directive last week to the province’s police agencies to crack down on illegal cannabis dispensaries.
He said a recent provincial review found at least 118 illegal outlets were in operation in comparison to 51 legal NSLC cannabis stores.
Although he couldn’t say specifically how many of those dispensaries are in First Nations communities, Armstrong sent a letter to 13 Mi’kmaq chiefs to ask for their “co-operation with a growing public safety problem.”
In a news release issued Tuesday, Sipekne’katik said its chief and council oversee their lands and the provincial government “has NO JURISDICTION on reserve lands.”
Chief Michelle Glasgow is quoted as saying the premier has not come to the community to develop relationships with their leadership and has suppressed the community and formed laws that “direct harm against us.”
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Glasgow goes on to allege Houston has been “ill-advised on anything related to L’nu Affairs and continues to violate constitutionally protected Mi’kmaw rights.”
“They don’t have our best interest at heart,” she wrote. “(T)his banning is not for our protection, but for theirs.”
First Nations cannabis advocates have argued that police action against these cannabis dispensaries is an attack on Mi’kmaq sovereignty.
“That has not been established,” Armstrong told reporters on Dec. 4, in reference to treaty rights.
“Right now, the Cannabis Control Act in Nova Scotia is the law of the land. As the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, it’s my job to make sure that laws are enforced and those laws apply to everyone across the province.”
In a statement to Global News, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs said they were “taken by surprise by that letter from the province.”
“The contents of that letter are not a fair description of the process or the reality on our reserves,” it read in part.
Global News spoke to Houston on Tuesday, but he declined to comment on the ban.
Sipekne’katik said if Houston, Armstrong or Martin step foot on band lands, they’ll be fined $50,000.
Sipekne’katik is joined by other First Nations in taking steps against the cannabis directive. Pictou Landing First Nation Chief Tamara Young announced over the weekend that RCMP are “not to come into (the) community” until further notice.
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