Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Prince Albert city councillor look for solutions to crime in region

A Prince Albert city councillor said at a council meeting late last month that he wants to address crime in the city — but some of the comments he made in the process have drawn criticism from leadership from Montreal Lake Cree Nation, north of the Saskatchewan city.

Now, that councillor says he wants to have "open and honest" discussions about how to deal with crime with organizations both within Prince Albert and beyond — including First Nations leaders.

At a Prince Albert city council meeting on March 28,  Ward 6 Coun. Blake Edwards said the number of violent incidents in Prince Albert was concerning to residents.

"We're a small city where violence is getting out of hand — it's been out of hand," Edwards said at the meeting.

"It's not OK for communities to ban their own residents and allow that resident to come here to Prince Albert to wreak the same havoc they were doing in their community, without helping."

Edwards didn't provide any specific instances of that when interviewed by CBC, but said he believed families from communities outside of Prince Albert who may be at their wit's end could drop their loved ones off at the city limits to fend for themselves.

That, he said, is contributing to a growing crime problem, as well as mental health and addictions-related issues in the city. 

Edwards's remarks at the council meeting drew the attention of Montreal Lake Cree Nation Chief Joyce Naytowhow-McLeod, who wrote an open letter to the city earlier this week.

"If Councillor Edwards wants to address the level of crime in Prince Albert, perhaps he should clearly understand the socio-economic dynamics that create an environment of which crime is one consequence," her letter read. 

"It would be easy to simplify a complex issue by insinuating that First Nation organizations are either unaware of the challenges our people face in an urban setting, or by denying it." 

Naytowhow-McLeod was not available to comment further for this story. 

One recent news release from the Prince Albert Police Service provides a snapshot of the kind of crime issues the city faces.

The March 23 release detailed five separate incidents where people were attacked with weapons in the city.

Police said over a five-day span, a man was attacked with a machete, a car was stolen by two people toting a firearm, two people were assaulted with or by individuals with knives and a man was shot in the city. 

Several arrests have been made in connection with those incidents, police say.

When speaking at city council last month, Edwards admitted he didn't know where to go to address the rising crime in Prince Albert. 

Instead, he proposed meeting to find solutions with organizations within the city and beyond, including First Nations community leaders, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, and local MLAs and members of the federal government.

"The discussion have to be open and honest. We have to get together and talk about it," Edwards told CBC News on Thursday. 

Some of those discussions, he suggested, could look at creating more beds for drug treatment in Prince Albert, a measure he said could counter the growing crystal meth and opioid problem he sees in the city. 

By extension, Edwards said some of the solutions would also benefit Montreal Lake — a community about 100 kilometres of Prince Albert which he said he sees many of the same issues related to drugs and violence as his city.

In her letter to city council, Naytowhow-McLeod said she was open to meeting, and Edwards said she confirmed that when they had a phone call after her letter was published this week. 

"Yes, crime in and of itself is a problem. But it does not exist in isolation. I invite you to meet with us and discuss this complex issue in a meaningful, non-judgmental manner so that we can walk the same path together rather than in different directions," the chief's letter said. 

Her letter said that many people from Montreal Lake living in Prince Albert are already working to address challenges urban First Nations people face, including poverty. Many have established relationships with community leaders and health and social organizations within the city, she said.

Edwards said he would have to prepare a motion for council to arrange the forum between organizations and leaders he proposed, which he said was likely to come in the near future.

He said he is confident many of his peers, if not all, would support the proposal.