The tri-communities shows mixed growth in the latest census. (File photo/Town of La Ronge)

By Derek Cornet

mixed numbers

Census data shows population decrease on and off-reserve in La Ronge, increase in Air Ronge

Feb 10, 2022 | 5:00 PM

Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) Chief Tammy Cook-Searson doesn’t believe newly released data by Statistics Canada is correct when it comes to on-reserve populations.

Some of the data collected during the 2021 Canadian Census was released Wednesday and it shows a mixed picture when it comes to Air Ronge, La Ronge and LLRIB communities. The information showed population at Lac La Ronge 156 (south of the Montreal River) decreased from 1,924 in 2016 to 1,349 in 2021.

Census data also shows an increase in Stanley Mission from 1,840 residents to 1,883, an increase in Grandmother’s Bay from 342 to 344 and a decrease in Sucker River from 416 to 384.

“We will work with our membership officers in La Ronge, Stanley Mission and all of our six communities and just figure out what it means and what the statistics show within the population,” Cook-Searson said. “If every household participated and the census workers were able to get into every household and determine how many people were in the house, then it would have been different.”

Cook-Searson believes the COVID-19 pandemic affected the outcome of the 2021 census as public health measures regarding social distancing were in place at the time. She noted, however, census data isn’t tied to the federal funding the band receives from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).

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According to ISC, the population of the LLRIB grew from 10,712 in 2017 to 11,617 in January 2022. She said it does appear on-reserve populations in La Ronge have fallen since 2016 with 2,366 on Lac La Ronge 156 in 2016 to 2,227 in 2022. On-reserve north of the Montreal River went from 708 to 628.

Cook-Searson noted band data shows growth in Stanley Mission, Sucker River, Morin Lake and Little Red.

“We’re going to be reviewing the statistics because we rely on ISC funding through our block agreement that we have,” she said. “It’s based on actual on-reserve population stats is what we get funding for.”

In Air Ronge, data shows a population increase of 1,199 in 2016 to 1,365 in 2021, while La Ronge showed a decrease of 2,688 to 2,521. La Ronge Mayor Colin Ratushniak thinks the six per cent decrease can be expected due to the transient nature of the community.

“That percentage-wise and number as a whole is really minimal,” he said. “We can see something change really quickly just like the announcement of McArthur River being reopened, we might see that increased. It is good or bad for our community, I don’t know, I think it’s just kind of an up and down that we will see consistently in the tri-communities.”

Although council will need to examine how the decrease in population could effect municipal funding, Ratushniak said the impact likely won’t be large or unmanageable. He also mentioned the numbers could have been affected due to difficulties conducting a census during a pandemic.

larongeNOW reached out to Air Ronge Mayor Julie Baschuk, who wasn’t available by publishing.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @saskjourno