Western Standard - Breaking ground on Siksika’s recovery community

00:00:00.000 Thank you. Welcome, everybody. I'd like to welcome you all to Blackfoot Territory in our Six of God lands.

00:00:09.280 I'm Councillor Buck Breaker. I'd like to thank Elder Francis Wolflake for the prayer and the blessing

00:00:15.960 and Frank and Darcy Turning Rope for the song.

00:00:20.060 very special day today for both our six of god people and the government who is partnering with

00:00:30.840 us today i'd like to introduce our speakers who are going to be addressing all of you today

00:00:39.520 from government of alberta we have minister dan williams minister of mental health and addictions

00:00:46.460 We have Minister Mike Ellis, who is the Minister of Public Safety, but also the Deputy Premier.

00:00:56.260 And we have MLA for Strathmore Chestermere, Chantal J. Jung, who is our guest today.

00:01:05.420 and from six ago we have chief crowfoot

00:01:08.980 uh councillor marsha wolf caller and francis wolflake who will all be speaking

00:01:17.420 on behalf of our respected communities and governments

00:01:20.900 so with that i'd like to roll right along i'd like to call upon minister dan williams

00:01:36.300 well good morning everyone uh buck thank you for introducing me and uh thank you to chief crow

00:01:41.820 foot and his council for inviting us here today uh into your nation uh for this auspicious

00:01:47.340 announcement and thank you especially uh to elder wolfleg for the work you did um leading your

00:01:53.260 community and for starting us off with that wonderful prayer i'd like to especially acknowledge

00:01:59.660 my colleagues that are here today uh deputy premier mike ellis uh mla chantelle deong and

00:02:05.500 i know my colleague your mla joe scow wishes he could be here today but he couldn't make it

00:02:11.900 and it's an important part of his constituency that he wanted to send along his best on his behalf

00:02:19.500 five years ago this government started down a path that would become to known as the alberta

00:02:25.420 recovery model and from the very start we knew partnership with indigenous communities was going

00:02:30.380 to be the center of our model the idea of recovery is simple it's the idea that every single albertan

00:02:38.220 should have an opportunity at recovery that our health care system should be about healing

00:02:43.500 should be about helping people get to a spot where the community members again family members again

00:02:48.700 can contribute the way that they did before the deadly disease of addiction grabbed them

00:02:54.780 but that deadly disease of addiction doesn't have to end in tragedy and that's the lesson we see

00:02:59.740 here today with everyone here and especially this nation with which we're partnering with

00:03:05.020 chief crowfoot together not an imposition but a proposition on the path forward as government

00:03:11.260 with the six second nation saying we can do better for our people we can offer recovery

00:03:18.540 health and healing for everybody in this province we have started down this path where we've

00:03:25.180 committed to 11 recovery communities five with indigenous partners and i could not be more proud

00:03:30.700 to be here today this auspicious occasion announcing this groundbreaking this beautiful

00:03:36.380 35 million facility with 76 beds for recovery that is going to be land-based healing in

00:03:43.820 indigenous culture owned and led by the siksika nation i think it's so important when we look at

00:03:50.140 this beautiful landscape we have behind us today to understand it's an integral part of the vision

00:03:55.580 of the siksika nation on how they do recovery and treatment deeply integrated into their very proud

00:04:01.660 and important first nation culture it is a part of why they chose the location they did and why

00:04:07.020 we had the blessing we did at the start if you want to see what leadership looks like in recovery

00:04:13.820 it's the leadership of lived experience you see from this nation and from indigenous across this

00:04:18.460 province i could not be more blown away and impressed with the professionalism and the

00:04:24.060 degree to which communities like this one we're here today siksika leads and shows us what it

00:04:29.980 looks like to show recovery in action to show what health care and healing can look like for people

00:04:37.260 not to abandon their community members to the deadly disease of addiction and the fight with

00:04:42.940 these toxic and and absolutely ferocious drugs but instead to say there is an opportunity for

00:04:50.060 health and recovery and we want to look together to do that and so this will be one of 11 world-class 0.98

00:04:57.180 recovery centers that is focused this one on an indigenous culture which will be owned and

00:05:03.500 operated by the six second nation we are going to provide partnership with them for capacity building

00:05:09.100 and make sure that we see this continue to be a place of healing for many many years to come i

00:05:15.260 want to pay special thanks to chief crowfoot and buck breaker our mc tonight and counselor here

00:05:22.060 for the work they have done to get us to this spot today where we can make this groundbreaking

00:05:26.300 announcement on 76 new beds for treatment that is land-based indigenously centered healing

00:05:35.340 that is going to support recovery for up to 300 people a year those 300 people

00:05:41.900 have an opportunity that they wouldn't otherwise have and the difference that that's going to make

00:05:47.260 for those individuals for their families for the community and for the province of alberta

00:05:52.300 is so incredible and it's why we need to continue down this path of recovery because the alternative

00:05:57.340 recovery a government and a people that reject recovery is too scary a thought for me and i

00:06:03.420 and I think we have an obligation

00:06:04.880 to work with our partners to do this.

00:06:07.760 The hope is by the end of 2025,

00:06:10.600 those 300 people are going to be getting treatment

00:06:13.060 in this facility and working in partnership

00:06:16.240 with the Siksika Nation.

00:06:17.800 I'm confident that we're gonna have this completed

00:06:20.240 before then.

00:06:21.500 And with that, I wanna turn it over to Chief Crowfoot

00:06:23.980 for some remarks and thank him again for his warm welcome

00:06:26.880 and for the entire Siksika Nation

00:06:28.440 and their counselors for having us here today.

00:06:30.280 Thank you.

00:06:33.420 Okay, I'd like to thank the Turning Roves for that song this morning, as well as

00:06:47.000 for starting us off with that blessing.

00:06:52.320 You know, you don't have to be from Sexy Guy to know the history of what today is Alberta

00:07:00.240 and Canada.

00:07:01.260 you know just right over here 1877 is where the blackfoot treaty was signed

00:07:07.060 shortly after that the reservation system came into place the residential schools the 60 scoop

00:07:14.320 and you can you know the past system each one of these events was a traumatic event and a

00:07:20.940 life-changing event for our people that's a little bit of the history and because of that history

00:07:28.080 And because of that trauma, there's a lot of people, not just from Sexy Guy, but all across Canada that have dealt with addictions in some form or fashion.

00:07:39.280 I don't think there's any one person from Sexy Guy or any other First Nation that doesn't know anybody firsthand that's not battling with some kind of addictions and some kind of trauma.

00:07:52.200 now we don't necessarily think that this recovery center is going to be the

00:07:59.000 the magic pill if you will but one of the things that we've been working on here at 60 guy

00:08:05.620 is creating that foundation you know a lot of times when people turn to drugs or alcohol

00:08:11.920 it's not for the party it's to bury some of that trauma that they're dealing with

00:08:17.440 and some of the traditional treatment centers it's either been the 20 day 20 28 day turnaround

00:08:26.060 or the 90 day turnaround and a lot of times the people that go in there they're not really ready

00:08:32.380 to be healed and so our goal and our our vision along with the province of alberta is through

00:08:40.460 this facility being here at six you got some of the teachings that are going to be um part of the

00:08:46.580 recovery program are some uh 60 guy based land based um getting at the core of the issue really

00:08:54.500 addressing the core because if you don't address the core of the issue you're simply just putting

00:09:02.180 a a quick hill over it and it's not gonna you're not gonna have long-term success

00:09:09.380 our goal here is to have some long-term success and have real healing for a lot of our people

00:09:16.580 And, um, and some of the foundation, one of the things I say that I'm proud of here at 60 guy is, uh, like I said, this is one of the building blocks. We realize all the trauma that happened here at 60 guy and other first nations and all the, all the events. We've basically been in survival mode for a long time.

00:09:38.060 i fit strongly feel that we're turning the tide here at 60 guy and we're moving from survival

00:09:45.320 mode into thrive mode and if we get to that thrive mode we need our people to be strong

00:09:51.480 physically mentally emotionally and and and this facility is going to help some of our people to

00:10:00.060 to get back to that um strong warrior feeling that we were when we were warrior people

00:10:07.560 and had this vast territory.

00:10:10.740 So again, I'd like to thank Minister Ellis and Minister Williams

00:10:15.680 and the rest of the team from the province of Alberta that's helped,

00:10:20.580 along with our council.

00:10:22.780 Buck Breaker has taken the lead, but we also have some of our team

00:10:27.440 that's helped out along the way to make this a reality.

00:10:31.980 You know, far too often do we hear of 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds that were going to funerals.

00:10:40.900 You know, far too many of our people are dying prematurely.

00:10:45.100 You know, you have mothers and grandmothers going to go see their grandchildren put in the earth.

00:10:52.180 And that's just not our way. 0.83

00:10:54.700 And we need to move away from that.

00:10:57.180 And this is one of the of the stones in the foundation that we strongly believe is going to move us towards that strong nation that we know we are and we're going to be in the future.

00:11:11.000 So, again, I like to thank the team. I like to thank our council and and thank the people because it's going to be the people that really make this strong.

00:11:20.240 Us here in front of you today, the province of Alberta, the ministers, counselors, we're just making the building here.

00:11:29.640 We're putting the building here.

00:11:32.700 It's going to be the people that come in, the programs that are here, and the community that's going to make it a success.

00:11:41.140 But I have a lot of confidence in our people, and I have a lot of confidence in the future.

00:11:46.600 we had a vast history a lot of people only think back to 1877 because we didn't have that written

00:11:54.860 history but some of the oldest dna in all of north america was blackfoot dna some of these

00:12:02.000 archaeological digs that were taken by university of calgary just right over this hill date back to

00:12:08.920 6 000 10 000 years back of constantly using the same fire pits in the same areas so there's a lot

00:12:16.240 history anywhere you go in Alberta and Montana you're gonna see the footprint

00:12:22.600 of the Blackfoot people and we're not a people of the past we are our people of

00:12:27.760 the future and and it's events like today and it's facilities like this

00:12:32.620 that's going to ensure our people are strong for many generations to come so

00:12:37.420 thank you Alberta thank you buck breaker and the council and we look forward to

00:12:42.460 this facility being from groundbreaking to ribbon cutting to having the doors open so thank you

00:12:54.700 thank you chief crowfoot for those strong words as usual and minister dan williams

00:12:59.020 thank you for your words as well um at this time i'd like to call upon uh minister mike ellis

00:13:05.260 he uh just a little history mike uh mr mike as uh was part of the the uh the task force team

00:13:13.060 the alberta put together uh i think it's about two years now or a year but anyways so minister

00:13:18.780 mike was a part of that and uh he you know he was the minister previous minister of mental health

00:13:24.400 and addictions and um that's how we got acquainted and uh you know he has a strong passion for this

00:13:29.900 so with that i'd like to call upon minister mike ellis

00:13:32.760 well uh good morning everyone um chief thank you so much um thank you for the song today

00:13:44.280 gentlemen uh elder uh wolfleg thank you so much for that prayer um it is such an honor to be here

00:13:52.560 i also want to acknowledge of course that we gather today on the siksika land the blackfoot

00:13:56.500 territory um i would acknowledge all the elders that are here today in attendance uh of course

00:14:03.060 chief crowfoot mr williams mla de jong all the counselors the community members um this really

00:14:10.420 is truly a historic moment and i i can't thank you so i just thank you so much i remember the

00:14:15.460 the concept of this idea uh i remember riding in a car with buck uh you're going around figuring

00:14:21.940 out where the best location might be and and to be standing here today is is truly remarkable

00:14:28.100 before our government uh took action with the recovery oriented system of care addiction

00:14:33.060 treatment service services were was was often limited or in fact it was actually missing

00:14:39.220 completely and this was unacceptable we understood that we needed to do more enable people to get

00:14:46.180 help and of course pursue recovery and this is why today is so monumental it reaffirms our commitment

00:14:53.940 to actively work with our first nations communities to address these challenges and build these these

00:15:00.660 projects today is a testament of that commitment and we break ground on the construction of this

00:15:06.260 new addiction treatment facility right here on six six lands and i could not be more proud

00:15:10.740 With time and dedication, the individuals on successful lands can overcome addiction,

00:15:17.460 regain control over lives and the recovery community system once it is completed.

00:15:25.060 It ultimately leads to improved physical health to mental health, stronger relationships with

00:15:33.060 family and friends, a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment, and people that are suffering

00:15:40.260 from addiction can actually get their lives back um addiction recovery is a long-term process and

00:15:46.660 i know the chief eloquently said this you know gone should be the days of the 28-day program the

00:15:52.180 60-day program the 90t program in fact that actually puts more anxiety on a person and it

00:15:57.620 doesn't really lead to true recovery and that's why these recovery communities you know they can

00:16:03.380 be if people can be in there for a year a year and a half until they are physically and mentally

00:16:09.220 ready to get back into the community we work at their pace because everybody heals at a different

00:16:13.620 pace and long term this will be meaningful for recovery so today this groundbreaking signifies

00:16:22.580 true reconciliation as the former associate minister of this mental health and addiction to

00:16:28.020 get this project underway and i'm so glad to see minister williams picking up this torch and

00:16:33.540 and carrying out our promise to reconciliation

00:16:38.020 and the beginning of a new path forward for recovery

00:16:41.080 for those suffering from addiction.

00:16:43.080 And the community members who have worked hard

00:16:45.280 to make this a reality, thank you.

00:16:47.900 And I commend you for everything that you have done.

00:16:50.480 You should be extremely proud of your leadership today

00:16:53.360 that will change generations to come for this community.

00:16:56.620 So thank you.

00:16:57.460 Thank you, Mr. Ellis. Our next delegate has served in council for three terms. And herself,

00:17:13.380 she has over 20 years of recovery in her journey. So it's a great role model for our community and

00:17:22.580 fellow leaders to uh how important it is for recovery i'd like to call upon councillor marsha

00:17:28.900 wolfcaller

00:17:37.780 okay

00:17:43.700 my name is marsha wolfcaller uh so good morning to everyone i want to thank uh butch for their

00:17:49.460 prayer thank you and also want to acknowledge frank and darcy for the song i'd like to welcome

00:17:56.660 all our elders here today our special guests minister of mental health and addictions dan

00:18:02.100 williams and deputy premier and minister of public safety mike ellis and as well to my chief and

00:18:10.660 council colleagues and to the membership of six that are here today i also want to

00:18:19.460 recognize and acknowledge the Sixka Nation Recovery Task Force team. So I'd like for

00:18:24.740 them to stand so we all kind of know who that is. So I'd like to call on Candice,

00:18:32.180 Bakfat, Hector Winnipeg, Kendall, Pantherbone. And I'd also like to acknowledge our Chief and

00:18:42.180 Council, Sam, if you could stand. Am I missing anybody else? Owen, Crane Bear, there he is.

00:18:51.060 And of course our chair, not only for the public safety but for the recovery task is Buckbreaker

00:18:58.340 Reuben. I also want to recognize our technicians that are helping us with this project

00:19:06.020 and that includes the SIXCA Lands Department and also the SIXCA Public Works that have really helped us.

00:19:15.020 And as well, both the communications team from the Government of Alberta and as well Sinoxin.

00:19:21.020 So if you could wave Sinoxin, Government of Alberta.

00:19:24.020 Thank you for all the time and effort and the technicians said here.

00:19:27.020 I also want to recognize the men's group.

00:19:30.580 if you could all raise your our wave we have a six gun men's group who are part of the healing

00:19:36.740 journey of recovery i'd like to recognize them so six gun nation has always been a strong and

00:19:43.940 progressive nation despite its challenges dealing with its dark history from the impacts of

00:19:49.700 colonization and residential schools today there are other traumas and issues being dealt with

00:19:55.860 which contributes to the challenges of addictions.

00:19:59.220 Siksika has always strived to deal with these impacts and issues of addiction,

00:20:04.500 and today marks a new era of recovery and restoration.

00:20:09.300 I want to right now acknowledge Francis Butch Wolflake.

00:20:13.060 I remember him being a part of, it used to be called alcohol services,

00:20:19.380 and I remember they were it was an old house and it was one of the um it was part of the

00:20:25.860 the um the residential school all of that it was an old house and so they left them there and and

00:20:32.340 I remember um there was about three of them and one of them was the services that they provided

00:20:38.420 there so thank you butch for all your hard work to date this year marks my 23 years of recovery

00:20:46.260 i know the struggle and the impacts it has on families and relationships i'm very i am so very

00:20:52.660 proud of all those here today sharing this important moment who themselves are in recovery

00:20:58.260 and behind me i just want to um tell you a bit a little story three years ago i lost my son-in-law

00:21:04.660 we laid him to rest just right behind us so my daughter has been on her journey too as well

00:21:10.740 and my two grandsons which myself and you know our family we have to take on the role of helping

00:21:16.980 to raise them this recovery center will be a vital resource for those struggling with addiction

00:21:22.900 without access to a recovery center many individuals struggle to find the help they

00:21:28.020 need and may continue to suffer from their conditions therefore having a recovery center

00:21:33.300 available can be life-changing for those in need this center will provide a safe and supportive

00:21:39.780 environment for individuals to receive treatment therapy support as they work towards recovery

00:21:46.260 the center will offer a range of services including a medical detox care center

00:21:52.340 counseling and most importantly cultural program which is our six go way of life

00:21:57.540 and to help individuals overcome the challenges and lead healthy fulfilling lives

00:22:03.060 i want to thank the government of alberta and all those who have been involved in this commitment

00:22:08.340 in supporting providing financial contributions and the hard work

00:22:12.900 to make this recovery center reality again thank you

00:22:23.220 thank you councillor marcia wolf caller very uh inspiring for our colleagues at this time i'd like

00:22:32.020 to call upon the mla for chastamere strathmore chantelle de young

00:22:43.460 thank you very much buck what a special and important day this is and i want to extend

00:22:48.980 my gratitude to six second nation chief crowfoot all the counselors and the elders that are here

00:22:55.060 today for welcoming us to celebrate this day with you and thank you to elder francis for getting us

00:23:01.300 started in such a good way across the province and across the country families and communities are

00:23:08.660 battling the addiction crisis and this has been a sad reality for many years now and has caused

00:23:14.820 an insufferable amount of pain in the lives of countless canadians including myself

00:23:21.700 and we need solutions that work and that support our loved ones in their pursuit of recovery

00:23:27.300 And so I'm so honoured to stand here today as the MLA for Chestermere Strathmore in support

00:23:32.660 of this facility, which will not only serve Siksika Nation, but the entire region.

00:23:38.460 I'm so proud to be part of and to see a government that is putting such an emphasis and a focus

00:23:43.420 on recovery, because we know that it's possible.

00:23:47.680 There is nothing compassionate about leaving someone to suffer in their addiction.

00:23:52.480 And that's why facilities like this are so critically important.

00:23:56.720 are a place for people to heal and overcome their challenges they're a place of hope where someone

00:24:02.640 can learn and live in recovery and each person who succeeds in recovery is a testament to others

00:24:09.040 and they will lift up and inspire others to receive as well that life-saving treatment and

00:24:13.760 recovery they need and so i thank you all for being here today for such a momentous occasion

00:24:20.240 to mark this groundbreaking but also importantly the beginning of that journey which starts right

00:24:27.120 here where we stand and so with that now i'd like it to just turn it over back to buck and

00:24:32.560 thank you again for having me here today thank you mla for attending okay last but not least um

00:24:45.760 I'm going to bring up Elder Francis Butch-Wolflake, who will be celebrating 50 years sobriety this year.

00:24:55.940 And we have several members in the community who have reached that milestone of 50 years,

00:25:03.900 and we have a few other ladies who are just under 50 years.

00:25:07.820 So that just shows that recovery is possible in our communities, and they're great resources.

00:25:13.000 And that's who we need in our community is our own people, especially our elders, who have turned their life and proved to us that it is possible. 0.95

00:25:22.820 I'm going to warn you, Butch can be a little wacko at times, so he'll probably say some things.

00:25:30.560 But it's just proof that with us First Nations people, our humor is one thing that has been kept with us.

00:25:38.900 and then we use it and you'll you'll you'll witness that with uh butch wolflake come on up

00:25:46.180 all rise

00:25:56.180 yeah some of you just about got up okay uh

00:26:01.280 i was just thinking back uh to the early days mentioning uh frank turning rope those were

00:26:15.440 some of the principles that uh laid the foundation for where we are today back in the day there was

00:26:23.440 a big issue between province and the federal they wouldn't fund addiction programs on federal

00:26:32.560 because there was no such funding alberta had funding through what was called their

00:26:39.120 alberta alcohol drug addictions commission adac but they wouldn't fund programs on the reserve

00:26:46.720 we had to go off the reserve and uh that's how come uh facilities that started up uh

00:26:55.280 this whole movement such as a palm makers lodge up in st albert

00:27:01.600 and then down here in calgary we had crowfoot lodge uh and it's still there today but the name

00:27:07.920 has kept changing and now it's uh i just call i think it's called sunrise and it's uh still

00:27:16.320 operating as a treatment facility but some of those people that have passed on that laid the

00:27:22.960 groundwork for a lot of this stuff are as i had mentioned already frank turning robe alex galplock

00:27:33.680 francis many bears uh roy little chief and my brother alan wolfleg

00:27:42.080 uh those were some of the principles that work with crowfoot lodge uh which became crowfoot

00:27:48.960 sunrise which became sunrise and i think that's what it's called today but one of the things that

00:27:54.960 i think back on when i finally decided to do something about uh this uh addiction for me uh

00:28:07.440 chief crowfoot has talked about the trauma while back in our day

00:28:15.620 indians were prohibited from going into liquor stores and going into bars

00:28:24.240 and there was a very strict law if you were caught as an indian out in public

00:28:30.380 uh no no court or nothing you just went to jail for seven to ten days so a lot of times our people

00:28:39.500 would disappear my dad disappeared a couple times next thing we found him in spy hill that's called

00:28:46.620 it now it's called the remand city so anytime our people were missing we'd call these places

00:28:54.460 and that's where we would find them because they would be picked up off the street by the police

00:29:00.380 and so and then talks about uh clover talked about the past system and uh that was a another

00:29:09.620 recent happening that has just been uh i guess you could say uh wiped off the books but with

00:29:18.360 the prohibition from drinking mid-60s they opened it all up and i'll tell you i was in my teens

00:29:27.900 and this whole six god nation went crazy

00:29:32.240 deaths family breakups

00:29:37.300 60 scoop we still had the residential school going

00:29:43.900 there's a lot of people dying

00:29:46.980 and even our leadership

00:29:50.740 our chief and 12 bank counselors were got into the celebration also

00:30:00.740 so here we are some of us are i've been moved to do something about our addiction

00:30:08.340 and the government came out with what was called the national native alcohol abuse

00:30:12.740 programs federal funding which is still a chicken feed to this day because it has

00:30:18.900 evolved into nada national native alcohol drug abuse program so i want to thank alberta for

00:30:25.940 stepping up and uh making the government feel guilty but then at the same time alberta uh

00:30:37.220 that we're a part of alberta it's just that we're this little federal country within a province

00:30:46.100 which is kind of an interesting relationship and i'm glad we're learning how to work together

00:30:53.540 so with that with that uh beginning for myself personally when i started this journey

00:31:01.700 i didn't really know how i was going to do it i was just going to as they say cold turkey

00:31:08.180 but then I got directed to attend a meeting to make coffee because none of the people didn't

00:31:19.780 know how to make coffee properly so I volunteered I must have made good coffee because they told me

00:31:26.020 to come back but pretty soon I was sitting at the table with them AA members we had our meetings

00:31:33.620 at the anglican church down in north camp in the basement and it was called the four corners group 1.00

00:31:41.000 that's how it was registered with the a movement but at that time a lot of these old people that

00:31:53.200 weren't even in the program they would tell me you need to find the six ago way of life

00:32:00.580 that's going to provide you with a lot stronger foundation for your recovery

00:32:13.500 and so being born in that area of residential schools and whatever and uh also at the same

00:32:21.560 time we had our sun dance i grew up in that with all their our traditions that's what i returned

00:32:29.820 back to simple things like pipe ceremony sweats and all these little things that remind me of our

00:32:43.660 our past and our ancestors and how they lived and the other thing that i was told is

00:32:51.180 you will never be white people this is who you are so know who you are what you need to do

00:33:06.380 and so that's so i'm looking forward to this uh long awaited facility

00:33:13.900 we have a lot of learned people with uh bachelors masters phds

00:33:21.740 that will be required for this but we also have our traditional knowledge people our elders

00:33:31.100 that also have their bachelor's master's and phd so with that kind of balance i'm pretty sure

00:33:40.620 a lot of people are going to benefit from this facility so i thank all the leadership that have

00:33:46.700 shown up here chief and council if anything goes wrong you can always blame hector

00:33:59.580 i served on council if anything went wrong we'd say it's hector's fault

00:34:06.620 so i just want to welcome you to our our great uh land here

00:34:14.860 interestingly enough this is only a microcosm of our land that extended so many places but

00:34:24.780 that's for another lesson time so with that i thank you and have a good day

00:34:37.100 thank you francis butch wolfleg um at this time i like to thank a lot of people that that aren't

00:34:43.900 here uh who made this possible you know especially previous leaderships who as um elder butch had

00:34:52.380 mentioned who have um attempted to deal with this this um addictions pandemic and i say that because

00:35:04.700 we've been in this pandemic for decades as counselor uh elder butch had mentioned so

00:35:13.180 So, there's been a lot of great leaders in the past who had to deal with this with very minimal resources.

00:35:25.180 I know we're considered federal jurisdiction because of our treaty with the Crown,

00:35:33.180 but it's so amazing to have this partnership for the government to step up

00:35:37.380 and fulfill that that obligation to help us to help our people

00:35:44.680 so with this uh leadership with minister dan minister mike and and all those that aren't here

00:35:52.520 um you know it's it's such a amazing journey so exciting because now we get to bring

00:36:00.700 all those thoughts and dreams and ideas to reality in our community

00:36:06.600 because we have to we have to send our people off the reserve to different institutions

00:36:13.240 where our people face discrimination and racism in those institutions we get kicked out

00:36:21.260 if we get into a fight

00:36:23.580 we're drawn back to our community so a building like this is is only going to help our people

00:36:30.420 with all the resources internally we have a lot of resources

00:36:35.020 and that's what this building is going to consist of

00:36:40.460 uh our project manager tim papernick who uh done a lot of work with the mpe engineers

00:36:47.820 um with the renderings tours are right here to your left you know we did we worked on that for

00:36:55.040 about about 12 months at least back and forth back and forth and now we have this final product

00:37:01.300 that's ready to go to construction uh he couldn't make it today we also have members of uh mpe mpe

00:37:09.520 we have uh dan and brock over here and uh also alan from from modus who's uh um going to be

00:37:17.400 putting this together but also our our fellow colleagues we have uh counselor sam crowfoot

00:37:25.300 counselor oren crane bear counselor straighter crowfoot chief crowfoot he's been a chief for

00:37:30.720 many years before now he's he's serving with his son which is quite the experience to to witness

00:37:38.560 but i know i know the questions are going to be about funding that's the pink elephant in the room

00:37:47.440 and when it comes to dollars you can't put a dollar to lives no amount of dollars can be measured

00:37:56.560 to a life. But we in Siksika, our treasury sector, our chief is a CPA. He was a former

00:38:10.260 chair of our treasury sector. I've been in treasury for eight years, and my colleague

00:38:18.840 owen crane bear has a strong finance background and in six god we have a financial law

00:38:28.280 that makes sure that all of our finances are accounted for and our audits run smooth

00:38:37.800 so with six god that's what we have to make sure that all of our our funding dollars are allocated

00:38:46.040 accordingly so i know there's going to be a lot of turmoil about the funding

00:38:53.880 but it's not about the funding it's about working together to keep people alive

00:39:02.680 so with that i'd like to thank everybody for coming this is a very very special day

00:39:08.520 in a great partnership with the government of Siksika and Alberta.

00:39:16.900 So that concludes our speaking engagement.

00:39:21.680 What we're going to have now is the sod turning.

00:39:25.300 So we have all the delegates up here, but also the recovery center team.

00:39:33.220 so kendall hector and candace come up for a um the photo after that i'd like to include uh other

00:39:41.360 members of council so owen sam and straighter to come and join us for for more photos but for the

00:39:47.640 first one uh our delegates up here and the council team oh yeah carol do you want to take what after

00:39:58.400 Okay.

00:39:59.220 All right.

00:39:59.440 Sorry.

00:40:00.140 Thank you. 0.92

00:40:28.400 Ladies on. 0.97

00:40:58.400 one 1.00

00:41:21.680 all right

00:41:28.400 uh

00:41:58.400 Thank you.

00:42:28.400 If something goes wrong,

00:42:57.780 Hector you can blame me so if something goes right we'll blame you so this

00:43:11.700 brings us to the question and answer portion of our announcement we do have

00:43:17.100 some reporters on the line I'd like to let reporters know to please state their

00:43:21.480 name and outlet and they can have one question with one follow-up do we have

00:43:25.080 anyone here on the ground who would like to ask questions I'll just get you to step to the mic

00:43:29.780 multiple mics going I like it um yeah I I'm curious because I'm sorry just your uh sorry

00:43:38.840 your name I'm Sarah often with global news I'm curious just because it was something that the

00:43:43.260 counselor had mentioned about this idea of of people sometimes going into treatment in the

00:43:48.860 passed before they were ready um you know we've had this um this model in alberta of of the

00:43:56.280 involuntary treatment program is is it something that is going to um i i guess is that something

00:44:03.040 that's going to be run differently here is there exceptions that are going to be made

00:44:06.360 um you know for for people that that maybe that wouldn't work for yeah i'm going to ask chief

00:44:13.940 Crowfoot to comment as well following mine but compassion prevention is a part of our government

00:44:18.980 platform we're continuing to work on this we're in the process of looking at what that looks like

00:44:25.060 we have a plan to not impose but propose a solution with our indigenous partners this is

00:44:30.980 dramatically different from the past as you heard from our speakers today the government of Alberta

00:44:35.380 is stepping up so that we can find a partnership with nations like Siksika and have an indigenous

00:44:41.060 led path and opportunity for them to get into recovery that includes when it comes to compassion

00:44:45.940 intervention a wraparound fully indigenous approach uh and i think there's nothing

00:44:51.380 compassionate about leaving our loved ones and their dear ones suffering and you know

00:44:56.020 methamphetamine fentanyl addiction intermittently homeless from laceration and violent

00:45:02.020 interactions on the street with um drug cartels that there's nothing compassionate nothing canadian

00:45:08.020 nothing nothing about our culture or the indigenous culture that leads us to that conclusion

00:45:12.900 instead we're a society that's compassionate and caring is going to find help and care for those

00:45:17.620 who are in just difficult and deadly positions when it comes to the disease so we're going to

00:45:23.780 have an indigenous-led solution we're going to partner with communities like this not just on

00:45:30.100 facilities like this but for the entire continuum of care chief crowford did you have anything to

00:45:34.180 add on compassion intervention thank you for the question um we're still working on uh exactly the

00:45:42.580 details of how the the building's going to be operated and some of the programs and all those

00:45:46.980 things but i do want to say at the end of the day it's about healing our community you know and and

00:45:53.460 and sometimes if the family's involved the family's involved that was our way if you go back a long

00:46:00.020 ways it never was about an individual checking in or checking out individually it was a family

00:46:06.260 involvement you know you hear the term it takes a village that was our way is it takes a village and

00:46:11.780 so as we um work towards the the programming and exactly all the details of how the facility will

00:46:18.340 be run um i can't give you a definitive answer right now but i will say that our end goal is

00:46:25.140 going to be to make our community a stronger community and our community primarily the

00:46:30.660 community does focus on six you got six you got egg ones but at the same time as was mentioned

00:46:36.420 by the minister we've also even through covid we've opened up our facilities uh uh in in six

00:46:44.180 you got to our surrounding communities these calgary to other areas really really shown that

00:46:51.460 six guy is in partnership with alberta and the same thing is going to happen with our facility

00:46:56.180 here like you know the the primary the the um primary focus is going to be for our nation

00:47:02.100 members but if there's capacity available then we're going to open it up for other people in the

00:47:07.140 surrounding communities that need that help but as far as um you know exactly all the details of

00:47:13.300 how it's going to be run we don't have all those details right now but at the end of the day it's

00:47:18.740 about making our community stronger and whatever that takes to make the community stronger i agree

00:47:24.580 with the minister nothing's compassionate about sitting back and watching somebody self-destruct

00:47:30.340 and just going geez well it's up to them to decide they want to self-destruct

00:47:34.340 some some some family intervention some elder intervention um in our ways again we go back

00:47:39.940 to some of the elders and that's what that's what a lot of these programs are going to be

00:47:44.740 developed on are the six you got ways of being as the elder wolf leg mentioned before

00:47:51.940 it was some of the things such as the sweats and and and the other pipe ceremonies the beaver bundle

00:47:58.420 all these ceremonies that we had before that's what we're trying to get back to

00:48:04.500 and it's going to be some of these things it's it's healing it's going to be healing these things

00:48:08.980 because if you go on a five-day bender you're not going to get drunk you're trying to bury some

00:48:13.140 trauma if you're taking these hard drugs you're not trying to get high you're burying some trauma

00:48:18.980 and so at the end of the day it's trying to trying to get back to the core to get back to to uh to

00:48:25.620 to to get rid to address the real issues and so again might not be the right answer to your

00:48:31.940 question but at the end of the day we're going to do what we need to do at 60 guy to make our

00:48:36.580 community stronger. Thank you. Is there a follow-up?

00:48:46.820 Looking on the line, if you mind putting that reporter through please,

00:48:50.260 just one question and one follow-up.

00:49:06.580 Looks like that reporter has dropped off the line.

00:49:28.960 So that concludes our announcement for today.

00:49:31.380 I'd like to thank everyone for joining.

00:49:36.580 You

Western Standard - June 29, 2024

Breaking ground on Siksika’s recovery community

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