Sturdy Committee Investigates Transfer of Jurisdiction

The provincial government sought to take greater responsibility for the control of services provided to Aboriginal people in the North, particularly because of historic neglect of northern policy. The CCF government made an agreement with Indian Affairs to engage in joint development and partial transfer of services to the provincial government. The committee appointed by the provincial government, headed by Sturdy, was tasked to examine the possibility of Saskatchewan taking over these services, though the report of the committee advised against the transfer. In the years that followed, the Department of Indian Affairs did not fulfill their part of the agreement as it related to the transfer, instead bolstering bureaucracy in the department by increasing staff and services.