First Nations say overhaul of policing long overdue

OTTAWA — Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the Liberal government will work on a law to ensure First Nations have the policing services they need and deserve — but questions are being raised about why this work has seemingly just started.

Blair told the House of Commons public safety committee on Tuesday night he has begun contacting Indigenous leaders to figure out how to best transform policing in their communities.

The Liberals promised to take action on First Nations policing more than six months ago, first in the mandate letter Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued to Blair in December and again in response to Indigenous protests against the Coastal GasLink project in northern B.C.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said the work is long overdue.

“Of course, it should have started a long time ago,” he said Wednesday. “But now we have this opportunity to start working with them to get this done soon.”

He and Indigenous leaders hope to seize upon the widespread calls for police reform in the wake of a number of violent police incidents involving Indigenous people across Canada to ensure things finally get done.

In February, amid countrywide road and rail blockades over objections by some Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs to the pipeline project in B.C., some asked whether Ottawa should do more to expand policing services run by First Nations to stop violent clashes between Indigenous people and police during pipeline protests.

Blair said then the idea would not be a quick fix to the immediate issue involving the protests, noting that it would require “complex” and long discussions.

Changes to the way policing is conducted require provincial and territorial involvement and approval, as operational policing matters fall within provincial jurisdiction.

The First Nations Policing Program, created in 1992 as a “practical way to improve the level and quality of policing services for First Nations communities through the establishment of policing agreements,” has helped to see about 60 per cent of First Nation and Inuit communities in Canada served at least in part by an Indigenous-run police force.

But Bellegarde said the program has been plagued by funding shortfalls. The Assembly of First Nations has pushed for First Nations-led policing to be upgraded from a mere program and enshrined in legislation.

“There is no legislative base, their financial resources are inadequate and yet that’s what our people are expected to use to put in place a police service. Not acceptable,” Bellegarde said. “We’re going to take advantage of this opportunity now to get it done and get it done properly.”