Indigenous First Nations file complaint to address ‘chronic’ underfunding by Canada

TRENTON, Canada

A Labour Day stabbing rampage on the James Smith Cree Nation in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan left 10 dead and 18 wounded in 2022.

There was no Indigenous police force in the remote community and it took hours for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to arrive at the scene.

Chief Wally Burns called for a First Nations police service in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“Tribal policing, we need that,” he said. “The response time was way too late.”

The head of the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO) is in full agreement with Burns.

Chief Kai Liu said the organization filed an official complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) that charges the Canadian government has hampered not only the formation of tribal police forces but has left those that do exist understaffed and unable to do police work.

“On March 29, 2023, IPCO filed a CHRT complaint about the chronic underfunding of our services through the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program,” he told Anadolu in an email interview. “Our complaint relies on the recent judgement (2022) which said that Canada discriminates against First Nations by deliberately underfunding their police services.”

Liu underlined the words to emphasize the problem. Yet despite the tribunal’s judgment, which was upheld by a Federal Court in February, nothing has been done to address the situation.

After the James Smith tragedy, Canada Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino pledged to “work around the clock” to bring before Parliament in the fall legislation to declare Indigenous policing an essential service.

But on April 5, more than seven months after the tragedy, a spokesman for Mendicino told The Canadian Press that “it is too early to say when the legislation will be tabled (brought before Parliament).”

Liu said Indigenous police forces are funded under “terms and conditions” contracts with the federal government. But the contracts are written by the government and are presented on a take-it-or-leave-it scenario.

“Canada does not negotiate, instead forcing First Nations to sign pre-written contracts without consulting us at all about what our communities need,” he said. “These contracts are always underfunded and they always deliberately restrict our ability to provide policing.

“The underfunding creates safety risks for communities and increases officer stress, resulting in mental health leaves,” he said.

It is a safety issue and the IPCO also calls for residents in Indigenous communities served by First Nations police to be paid CAN$40,000 ($30,000) in damages.

The human right complaint has a lot of support. Besides the nine stand-alone First Nations police services represented by IPCO, the 36 stand-alone Canadian First Nations police services has declared its backing.

So, what happens now?

‘Next, we wait for the (CHRT) commission to appoint a commissioner to review the complaint,” said Liu. “We also expect and invite other First Nations and/or Indigenous police services to intervene in our case.

“This is a national scandal, and Canada has been put on notice,” he said.