NAN, NAPS Support CHRT Complaint Against Canada on Underfunding of First Nations Policing

OTTAWA, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum, Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) Chief of Police Roland Morrison, and NAPS Board Chair Mike Metatawabin have released the following statement supporting the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal complaint filed by the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario against the Government of Canada:

“This complaint challenges Canada’s discriminatory underfunding of policing in First Nations communities and comes at a time when the need for adequate, effective, and culturally responsive policing is more important than ever.

Following years of advocacy, in March 2021 we wrote to Prime Minister Trudeau outlining the many ways the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program blocks First Nations from the policing standards available to non-Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We have highlighted Canada’s completely arbitrary “terms and conditions” – such as the prohibition on specialized policing units including emergency response and canine units – that are only applied to First Nations policing.

The Government of Canada has directly violated its own First Nations Policing Policy. The violation of these policies is yet another example of the federal government arbitrarily imposing discriminatory rules and then, when challenged, hiding behind those very same rules as an excuse to somehow justify the discrimination.

It is unacceptable that despite promises of reconciliation and in the face of a nationwide First Nations community safety crisis, this government has allowed our communities to suffer. It is truly shameful that it has come to this: that Canada will not act without a court order.”

In May 2021, Chief Morrison appeared before the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs to highlight the systemic failings of Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Policing Program and highlighted how these “terms” directly violate Canada’s own First Nations Policing Policy (1996).

A founding member of the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, NAPS is the largest First Nation police service in Canada and the second largest First Nation police service in North America. NAPS employs approximately 230 uniformed officers and 40 civilians. NAPS polices 34 communities across NAN territory, encompassing nearly two thirds of the Province of Ontario.

For more information please contact:
Michael Heintzman,
Director of Communications
Cell: (807) 621-2790
mheintzman@nan.ca