“This community just wants to move on and have a bright future again, but they can’t if their local MLA and provincial government won’t stand up for them,” said Brittney Senger, Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Ethics and Democracy.
“They’ve lived through a two-year occupation. They shouldn’t have to come to the Legislature, begging on their hands and knees, for basic emergency support – but here we are.
“This is what you get with an out-of-touch, 18-year-old government who has failed communities and failed to protect community safety.”
The village of 120 have already spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees, infrastructure costs, and additional staffing costs after town employees and council were threatened, intimidated and harassed. Some even resigned from their positions.
“The division that this cult caused in our town has only gotten worse,” said Shauna Shein, a Richmound resident who came to the Legislature Wednesday. “Many of us feel like we’ll never truly heal from this — not as long as we’re still dealing with the fallout.
“The cult has harassed people. They’ve made threats. They caused our administrator to quit back in December. A few people have tried to fill in since then, but no one has lasted. No one wants to deal with that kind of abuse.
“And when it comes to our MLA — the only time I know of that he came to town was during the second protest in front of the school. He showed up around two o’clock, did a quick photo op, and that was it.
“Are you kidding me? We’ve been traumatized here, and all you can do is pass the buck?”
The Saskatchewan NDP is calling on the Sask. Party government to immediately approve $75,000 in emergency funding to help Richmound recover.
“The people of Richmound did nothing wrong,” said Senger. “They were victims of a horrific situation — their community was terrorized for crying out loud — and their provincial government has turned its back on them.”
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