Rooting out prejudice

RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson deserves considerable credit for taking the first steps this week towards building a much-needed new relationship between his force and Canada’s aboriginal people.

First, he addressed a meeting of the Assembly of First Nations to acknowledge the need for a new relationship between his officers and indigenous peoples.

Then he didn’t balk at tough talk after his speech, including being told by British Columbia Grand Chief Doug Kelly: “Some of the worst racists carry a gun and they carry a badge, authorized by you.”

Instead, Paulson acknowledged there are racists in his force and he would love to be rid of them. Then he encouraged chiefs to call him if they experience racism from RCMP officers in their communities, promising “decisive” disciplinary measures.

That’s all good. But the commissioner can do much more than simply denouncing racism in the force. He can and should take concrete steps to end it.

The first would be to ensure there is a curriculum and sensitivity training in place at the RCMP academy that is strong enough to counter ignorance among cadets about First Nations culture.

As Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler told the Star’s Tanya Talaga, in a story in a series about murdered and missing indigenous women, getting to the root causes of racism requires understanding and, most of all, education.

That is why one of 94 recommendations in Justice Murray Sinclair’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report is for aboriginal studies courses to be instituted in all schools across the country. They are needed, he says, to counter the notion that “First Nations were heathens, pagans, savages who made no contribution to their country.”

It’s a recommendation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will implement. And it’s one that Paulson should, too.

Regardless of the training cadets at the academy receive under the National Aboriginal Policing Services program, which works with aboriginal groups to develop policing approaches, racists are slipping through, as Paulson himself acknowledges.

And while it’s important to stamp out racism in the RCMP directed at anyone, it’s especially important to fight biases against First Nations peoples on the force.

That’s because the RCMP polices more than 600 First Nations communities. As well, it is often the only police force in northern and western cities that have high concentrations of aboriginal residents.

It won’t be easy. Teachers themselves, for the most part, haven’t received an education in First Nations culture and history.

Still, Paulson should have little difficulty finding experts to teach aboriginal history, culture, and sensitivity training at the academy. It is, after all, situated in Regina, where almost 10 per cent of the population is First Nations, compared with only 4 per cent in Canada as a whole.

In the end, Paulson succeeded in starting a new relationship with First Nations peoples. The assembly’s national chief, Perry Bellegarde, says he was heartened by Paulson’s presence at the chiefs’ meeting and the fact he stayed to answer pointed questions.

Now comes the tough part: making sure racism against aboriginals has no place in the RCMP.