Sask. lawyer Mary Culbertson named new treaty commissioner

Saskatchewan has a new treaty commissioner.

Lawyer Mary Culbertson has been appointed for a three-year term.

"We are excited to welcome Mary Culbertson as the new treaty commissioner and look forward to working with her as we continue down the path of treaty fulfilment and reconciliation," saidOffice of the Treaty Commissioner executive director Harry Lafond in a news release earlier this week.

Culbertson is a member of the Keeseekoose First Nation in Saskatchewan and has worked with Battleford's Sunchild Law in the areas of family, criminal and Indigenous law, as well as in dispute resolution.

Past commissioners have included former Saskatoon mayor Cliff Wright, current Saskatchewan human rights commissioner David Arnot, and former Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief George Lafond.

The treaty commissioner position had been vacant for more than a year and a half.

The commissioner brings the federal and provincial governments and First Nations together to help honourtreaty promises.

Culbertson's term will run until January 2021.