First Nation concerned over new provincial park in Sask.

The Saskatchewan government will be opening a new provincial park in the Porcupine Hills area.

Legislation to create the park was introduced Wednesday in the legislative assembly. The park will be the second new provincial park created since 2013, after Great Blue Heron Provincial Park. 

The area slated for the newest park, southeast of Hudson Bay, is known for camping and fishing.

The park has been a long time coming. According to the government, consultations with local First Nations, Métis people and local stakeholders began in 2011.

'It was going to happen anyways'

Vern Friday, the lands manager at Key First Nation, was part of the discussion since the beginning. He said people have historically met in the area for traditional ceremonies and other activities. He says some of them will not be happy about the park, because of the potential influx of tourists.

"It has always been there for them for healing and spiritual help and hunting," Friday said.

His brother Randy Friday, who also works at Key First Nation, said there have been concerns about how the park designation will affect life in the community.

"We love our traditional lands that are ours. There's graves there, there's traditional medicine, there's trap lines, so we'd still like to maintain that," he said.

According to Randy Friday, the bands rushed in to give input on the decision, because they felt the province wasn't going to back down.

"It was going to happen anyways. It was on the table, so here we are," he said.

Randy Friday said they didn't want to fight and potentially lose out, so they decided to work with the government and make the best of the situation.

He added that community leaders plan to continue to raise their concerns to the government.

"The Ministers gave us their word that they're going to sit with us, talk with us and make sure that we feel comfortable with this agreement," he said.

Consultation to continue

A total of 29,800 hectares will be protected as park land. This is part of Canada's target to conserve at least 17 per cent of the nation's terrestrial areas and inland water bodies by 2020.

The new park will incorporate five existing provincial recreation sites including McBride Lake, Saginas Lake, Pepaw Lake, Parr Hill Lake and Woody River.

Vern Friday said he wants to see jobs within the park for First Nations people.

Parks Minister Gene Makowsky said jobs aren't likely.

He said the campsites will be "rustic," with no electrified sites, no extensive paving, and no major changes to recreational areas.

Despite some obvious contention, Makowsky said extensive consultation with community members will continue, with an advisory group that will deal with the local stakeholders in the future.

"It's a very beautiful area and the idea is to preserve that for future generations, for our children, for First Nations and all the visitors who enjoy our parks in the province," Makowski said.

The new park will focus on protecting the nature in the area. 

First Nations people will still be able to exercise their Treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap for food in the area, the government said.