Moe signs memorandums of understanding to strengthen gun rights for Sask. Métis | CBC News

The province and the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) have signed a memorandum of understanding, with some of its focus on increasing the number of gun licences and offering more gun safety education in Métis communities. 

“To build those communities together, build our province and our nation, that’s what people expect leaders to do and that’s what we’re doing today with the two memorandum of understanding,” Premier Scott Moe said Saturday during a scrum with reporters after the signing ceremony at the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly in Saskatoon. 

Moe added that he signed a second memorandum that will “enhance the relationship” between MN-S and the provincial government. 

He said the two parties will work toward increasing the presence of Métis people within the government.

Memorandums of understanding are not legislation, Moe described the agreements as “steps indicating that we are going to work forward on a number of different issues.”

The memorandum on guns focuses on four points, according to a news release from the province:

• Promoting of education and licensing of as many community members as possible.

• Minimizing unnecessary criminalization of individuals for regulatory offences.

• Coming up with appropriate compensation for seized firearms.

• Protecting the current and future privileges of gun owners.

Regarding the memorandum’s focus of gun education and rights, Moe said there are “some overarching pieces of legislation nationally” that “really cause us to speak to the importance of why we need to be doing this within our our various provinces.”

One way the province and MN-S can collaborate, Moe said, is to based on the how the province has a firearms office and MN-S has a “robust” citizenship registry, which could provide an opportunity for the governments to collaborate on education geared toward gun use and safety. 

With the agreement signed, the government says it will explore spending $50,000 to create a “community educator position” who will promote firearms licensing, safety and training for Métis people.

MN-S president Glen McCallum said the agreement is an important starting point for the Métis government and Saskatchewan government “to sit together and compare notes in regards to how we can strengthen our governments.”

He said that Métis have always hunted, but there are laws that now come into play.

“We have to respect laws because our province is growing,” said McCallum. “But at the same time that we respect the laws, we have to be able to communicate, to be able to share ideas in regards to how we can better the rules that are out there for harvesting and gun control.”

McCallum said by signing memorandums of understanding, it can quicken the pace of reaching MN-S’s goals.

Paul Merriman, the minister of policing, corrections and public safety, said in a news release that the agreement plays a role in “recognizing and preserving the cultural and historical practices of hunting and trapping.”