From left, Lawyer Larry Kowalchuk with Sylvia McAdam, Kurtis McAdam and Anthony McAdam outside Prince Albert Provincial Court Wednesday. (Charlene Tebbutt/paNOW Staff)

By Charlene Tebbutt

land case dismissed

Court dismisses charges in lands case

Mar 20, 2019 | 5:39 PM

The case against two siblings charged with living illegally on Saskatchewan parks land has been dismissed by a judge in Prince Albert.

Sylvia McAdam and her brother Kurtis were on trial for failing to comply with a provincial government order to vacate Saskatchewan park land in Zig Zag Bay near Big River. Following testimony from a Saskatchewan conservation officer Wednesday, Provincial Court Judge Gerald Morin said the elements of the charges had not been made out, adding that proving the Saskatchewan government has the jurisdiction to prosecute the charges is an important component of the law.

The Crown has 30 days to appeal the decision.

Sylvia McAdam, a founder of the Idle No More movement, was living on the land in question for some two years before she was ordered to leave early in 2017. Court heard Wednesday the Zig Zag Bay area includes a public campground but no private residences.

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McAdam argued her family had been at Zig Zag Bay for generations and she had a Treaty right to live on the land. Conservation officers ordered the family to leave the area after finding various building materials, including plywood, railway ties, tools, trailers and a port-a-potty at the site.

McAdam said she was relieved with the court ruling Wednesday, adding that she was grateful for the support and help she received to pursue her case, including Idle No More, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee and Defenders of the Land.

“My family has always lived there,” McAdam said outside court Wednesday. “For the province to come and create a park there without our consent, in violation of Treaty 6, is problematic.”

Regina-based Lawyer Larry Kowalchuk represented the McAdams and said the family is hoping to work out an agreement with the government for use of the land. The family had long lived in the area, but lost their home to fire in 1994, he said.

Kowalchuk hopes the case won’t come back to court.

“When you accuse someone and you put the full resources of the government, its legal team and its investigators and officers, all paid for by the taxpayers the onus is on you to prove all of the things that you’ve accused them of,” Kowalchuk added. “The family’s been trying to reach out for a long time, saying ‘Why should we bother fighting about this? Can’t we just sit down and figure it out, and let us build our family home?'”

McAdam said she is hoping to be able to live back on the property some day.

“That’s where I grew up,” she said.

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charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt