Ottawa sued by 22 indigenous police forces from Quebec

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The Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec is suing the federal government for underfunding their police services.

• Pascal Robidas (View profile)Pascal Robidas

The Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec is suing the federal government before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for the underfunding of their police services.

This decision to confront Ottawa in court was taken unanimously, according to the 22 chiefs of indigenous police forces, after the observation of an impasse which persists for several years in resolving the situation.

According to our agreements with Public Safety Canada, we are supposed to offer basic services equivalent to those offered to the entire population across Quebec and Canada. Unfortunately, current funding and conditions do not allow us to reach this level, said Shawn Dulude, president of the Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec.

This decision to take Ottawa to court was taken unanimously, according to the 22 chiefs of indigenous police forces.

Results: police officers must patrol and intervene solo at night, when they should be in pairs, the police equipment used is outdated, such as bulletproof vests available in some communities, and the question of salaries is highlighted because they do not retain the best recruits.

There is no police union that would tolerate their officers wearing expired bulletproof vests on patrol. There would certainly be ways of contesting. However, this is the case in certain communities. It's this option where you don't wear anything for your protection. Why do we have to accept this?, says Chef Dulude as an example.

In a context where police forces are in a race to attract the best recruits in order to fill retirements in their ranks, we have no financial means to offer competitive salaries in the face of police organizations that have a lot of money to increase diversity in their ranks.

A quote from Shawn Dulude, president of the Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec

The lack of police personnel in Quebec's indigenous communities forces First Nations police officers to patrol solo at night, while the norm is to intervene in pairs for their safety.

According to the 22 heads of Quebec's indigenous police forces, the lack of adequate public security services has such devastating consequences on the development and public health of First Nations in Quebec and Canada. It is enough only to address the issues of domestic violence or alcoholism in certain communities.

The Tribunal aims to ensure that the rights of all indigenous communities are respected in accordance with government obligations federal government to provide appropriate and adequate services to meet the needs of Indigenous communities.

A quote from Shawn Dulude, president of the Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec.

Shawn Dulude is the chief of the Akwesasne Mohawk Police and the president of the Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec.

The Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec estimates that there is currently a shortage of more than 200 police officers across Quebec to provide public security service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.< /p>

There are approximately 400 peace officers, recognized by the Police Act, in all 22 First Nations communities. Sixteen of the 22 communities fund police resources themselves without government support.

Obviously, the police chiefs are running out of patience with what they consider to be federal inaction.

In this regard, as 'reported the Public Protector on October 4, there is still a long way to go. Out of 13 recommendations set out in 2019 for the police sector, only one was successfully completed: the production of a situation report; another report!, thunders Mr. Dulude.

2000 – Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples;

2007 – Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Ipperwash;

2014 – Report of the Auditor General of Canada;

2016 – Research report commissioned by Public Safety Canada;

2019 – Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (NFFADA);

2019 – Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Relations between Indigenous Peoples and Certain Public Services (Viens Commission).

< em>Source: ADPPNIQ

Indigenous police services are often criticized and under the spotlight due to the firearms and drug smuggling activities of organized crime in many of their territories.

High workloads are processed at reduced speed, giving criminals a head start that is hard to catch up on. Not surprisingly, their activities are not limited to our communities. My colleagues, Raynald at Uashat here, like all our members, are only asking for that, to grow their investigation team to stop drug problems, says Shawn Dulude.

The Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec affirms that the issues raised do not only concern Quebec, but all indigenous territories in Canada.

Some communities border the United States and neighboring provinces. In some others, we find important infrastructures such as air corridors, navigable waterways and railways for which they are responsible. What happens in the event of a crisis here in Kahnawake, Mashteuiatsh or Wemotaci, to name a few? Are we waiting for the SQ? How much do you think it will cost? Is the SQ ready and, above all, has the capacity to support us if we raise an alarm? concludes Shawn Dulude.

During the 2019 election campaign, Justin Trudeau's Liberal government promised to regulate the funding of Indigenous police forces to across Canada. It is not uniform depending on the region and province across the country.

In 2020, the Minister of Public Safety at the time, Bill Blair, stated that the adoption of legislation to make Indigenous police an essential service would be the way forward to achieve in place of a financial framework.

But we must admit that the promise is still awaited for the indigenous police chiefs of Quebec .

Remember that the First Nations Policing Program was created in 1991 to fund agreements between the federal government, provincial or territorial governments to provide police services to nearly 60% of First Nations and Inuit communities in the country .

The federal government contributes 52% of the funding to the First Nations Policing Program. Provincial and territorial governments contribute the rest.

The Ministry of Public Security in Quebec did not wish to comment on the legal appeal of the Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec, because the case will be debated in court.

As for the federal Minister of Public Security, Dominic LeBlanc, he also refused to respond to the questions from Radio-Canada, during his daily visit to the foyer of the House of Commons, in Ottawa.

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