After 197 days, teepees coming down at protest camp in Regina's Wascana Park

The last teepee at Regina's Justice for Our Stolen Children camp is being taken down after 197 days and following a court order last week.

Campersagreed to stop stoking the sacred fire at about 5 p.m. CST on Wednesday night. The fire has been burning at Wascana Park since February, when itstarted shortly after theacquittals of Gerald Stanley and RaymondCormierin theColtenBoushieand TinaFontainemurder trials, respectively.

Camp founders said the intention was to draw attention to Indigenous lives lost or affected due to factors like violence, foster care or addiction.

People at the camp Wednesday took down the last two supporting teepees earlier in the day.

The camp dismantling comes following JusticeYsanneWilkinson's Sept. 7 order, which told the campers to leave the park and authorized policeto arrest those who weren't co-operating.

Wilkinson wrote in her decision that the protesters effectively usurped the area where they set up camp and had excluded "the public at large" from exercising their ownrights to use the park.

Protesters and the provincial governmenteachlaunchedcourt action over thejustice camp.

The province wanted a court order to have the camp removed, while protesters wanted a declaration that the camp was protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the arrest of six protesters on June 18 was unconstitutional.

'Does more harm than good'

Robyn Pitawanakwat, a spokesperson for the protesters, said officials from the Regina Police Service,the Provincial Capital Commission and Wascana Centre attended the camp on Wednesday to hand out a stack of eviction notices.

She said campers were disappointed with that move, as they had already decided to comply with the judge's ruling.

"It was an unnecessary show of power I think, but that's what they did," she said.

Some people have been staying at the park since the camp was set up, just across from the Saskatchewan Legislature.

"There were a number of people that were residents of camp that are now homeless," Pitawanakwat said. "Sothere is an effort right now to find people housing."

Pitawanakwat said those who have been providing support for others at the camp want to have a permanent location to continue doing that work at some point.

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"People being able to access the fire 24 hours a dayand access the traditional medicinesand to have a place to pray and share their grief is significant, and we need to have that [space] to do the work that we do," she said.

"Dismantling the camp does more harm than good. It's going to be devastating for a lot of families that need help and need support."

The provincial government has been pushing for the removal of the camp for months. The Regina Police Service arrested six people and dismantled the camp in June but the campers and their teepees returned.

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Campers took legal action against those arrests, which were since deemed lawful in court.

Minister of Central ServicesKenCheveldayoff said the court decisions confirmed that camping, fires and teepees are not allowed at the park without the proper permits and approval.