Beginning the Walks for Hope #yanawansca - 630km Walk for Suicide Awareness in Saskatchewan

Two men began a 635 kilometer walk from La Ronge, in Northern Saskatchewan, to Regina - the capital - to raise awareness about the growing epidemic of suicide in the province. 

Tristen Durocher is a 24-year old Metis man from Buffalo Narrows, northern Saskatchewan, an accomplished fiddle player, a poet, and now, a suicide awareness activist.

"I grew sick of playing my fiddle at funerals" said Durocher. 

He is joined by Christopher Merasty - of Men of the North - as his security detail, and welcomes the public to join on his walk, via a group he has formed called Walking with Our Angels, which will share content pertinent to the Walk and its mandate. 

Saskatchewan has the highest rate of suicide in Canada: 224 citizens lost in 2018, according to statistics from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service. In per capita terms, that's 19.3 deaths by suicide per 100,000 people; the national average for the same year was 10.3, nearly half. 

Further, regions of northern Saskatchewan have numbers that are statistically higher than Saskatchewan's average; one could argue Northern Saskatchewan to have had the highest rate of suicide in Canada. 

The sitting government, the Sask. Party, has utilized Policy to address this issue: in May of 2020 the government put forward "Pillars for Life", a 12-page document that cites 'international best practices' and is attached to $1.2 million in funding for the province, with special emphasis on northern regions. Critics of the bill have called the Plan 'vague' and 'insubstantial'. 

Contrastingly a private members bill - Bill 618 - was put forward by Cumberland MLA Doyle Vermette (of the Official Opposition/NDP) that sought legislation to address this issue, with specific targets and government accountability within a month of the document being signed into law. The bill was unanimously voted down by all 44 members of the sitting government. 

"The Government's indifference is covert genocide" Durocher does not mince words. 

Once the group reaches Regina they will continue to the Legislature, says Durocher, where Tristen will begin a hunger-strike 'until the government takes decisive action that will save lives'.