Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan

We, the undersigned residents of the Province of Saskatchewan, wish to bring to your attention the following:

The Let it Burn policy currently in place is destroying our lands.  We have taken so much from the land, now we must preserve and protect it. The destruction caused by the fires means we are losing our cultural lands, losing our livelihoods and losing a way of feeding ourselves. The "Let It Burn" policy means that no effort is made to fight a fire until it is within the 20 KM radius from a community. This, in addition to the elimination of manned watch towers, means that our traplines, hunting lodges and gathering places are being destroyed as there is not enough time to fight the fires. Individual community members are then forced into dangerous situations in order to protect what they can, while our communities have trained firefighters waiting for the call from the government.

We, in the prayer that reads as follows, respectfully request that the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan:

To end the Let it Burn Policy and call in our local firefighters to protect our land.  Many decisions affect our continued existence, we must be the voice for the land, our animals and generations to come. We the Indigenous people of Saskatchewan, comprised of First Nations and Métis people grounded in a rich heritage of inherent and traditional land-use are forwarding this petition to protect our lands, our livelihoods and our food system.