Indian leader meets with child prostitution committee

REGINA — FSIN chief Perry Bellegarde met with a legislative committee looking at child prostitution Thursday. The Indian leader says child prostitution is an important issue because more than 80 per cent of child prostitutes in Saskatchewan are aboriginal.

"It's not just the child in the street. It's the dysfunctionalism in the home."
— Perry Bellegarde

Bellegarde says discussions with First Nations can help the government better understand the problem.

"There's got to be a linkage," he says. "There's got to be a connection. You can't deal with these things in isolation. You have to look at the whole holistic healing.

"It's not just the child in the street. It's the dysfunctionalism in the home. There's alcohol and there's drug abuse. So you've got to look at all the programs that are there now and how everything is linked together holistically. We can offer recommendations suggestions in those areas."

Bellegarde will meet with the committee again at the end of February with a more formal presentation.