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| Naomi Sayers |
Canada’s highest court in Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan stated:
The evidentiary record shows that the need of Indigenous peoples for culturally appropriate police services originates in the difficult, and at times even traumatizing, relationship that Indigenous peoples had, and in some cases continue to have, with the police services imposed on them over the years by the Crown. These difficulties and the resulting traumas are well documented. The final reports of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
and Girls (Reclaiming Power and Place (2019)), the Viens Commission and the Ipperwash Inquiry (2007), among others, provide a comprehensive account of them. Those reports refer in particular to the failure of police services to address violence against women and children in certain Indigenous communities, the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in detention centres, and racism and discrimination in the provision of services in certain communities. The opportunity to enter into agreements whose objective is to ensure the provision of culturally appropriate police services managed by the Indigenous communities served contributes to reconciliation by ensuring that these services meet their needs. (Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan, at para. 183)
rusk: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Despite years of documented injustice, reforms remain elusive.
Here are other examples documenting the call for Indigenous policing, along with cultural competency or awareness training, and altogether overhauling and transforming policing in Indigenous communities to help improve police practices, community trust in policing and overall community and public safety for all:
1. The Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr., Prosecution, commonly referred to as the Marshall Inquiry, was established in 1986 following the wrongful conviction of Mi'kmaw man Donald Marshall Jr. for a 1971 murder he did not commit. The inquiry’s findings highlighted systemic issues within Nova Scotia’s criminal justice system, particularly concerning the treatment of Indigenous Peoples.
2. In 1988, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI) of Manitoba was established to examine the relationship between Indigenous people and the administration of justice after the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne and 1988 death of J.J. Harper. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in 2024 reiterated their calls for major reform of the First Nations Policing Program and development of a regional policing initiative for First Nations in Manitoba, citing the AJI (or the Public Inquiry into the Administration of Justice and Aboriginal People).
3. The Ipperwash Inquiry, established in 2003 to investigate the 1995 shooting death of Dudley George during a First Nations protest at Ipperwash Provincial Park, made several key recommendations concerning First Nations policing.
4. The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, led by Commissioner Wally Oppal and established in 2010 in British Columbia, examined systemic failures in investigating the disappearances and murders of women, particularly Indigenous women, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Its final report, titled “Forsaken,” was released in December 2012 and included several recommendations pertinent to Indigenous Peoples and their relationships to policing in British Columbia.
5. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), concluded in 2019, highlighted systemic issues within policing that contribute to the crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The final report, “Reclaiming Power and Place,” issued 231 “Calls for Justice,” many of which address the need for transformative changes in policing practices.
2. In 1988, the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI) of Manitoba was established to examine the relationship between Indigenous people and the administration of justice after the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne and 1988 death of J.J. Harper. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs in 2024 reiterated their calls for major reform of the First Nations Policing Program and development of a regional policing initiative for First Nations in Manitoba, citing the AJI (or the Public Inquiry into the Administration of Justice and Aboriginal People).
3. The Ipperwash Inquiry, established in 2003 to investigate the 1995 shooting death of Dudley George during a First Nations protest at Ipperwash Provincial Park, made several key recommendations concerning First Nations policing.
4. The Missing Women Commission of Inquiry, led by Commissioner Wally Oppal and established in 2010 in British Columbia, examined systemic failures in investigating the disappearances and murders of women, particularly Indigenous women, in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Its final report, titled “Forsaken,” was released in December 2012 and included several recommendations pertinent to Indigenous Peoples and their relationships to policing in British Columbia.
5. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), concluded in 2019, highlighted systemic issues within policing that contribute to the crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The final report, “Reclaiming Power and Place,” issued 231 “Calls for Justice,” many of which address the need for transformative changes in policing practices.
Dating back as far as nearly 40 years ago, calls for policing reform based upon information contained in numerous reports, inquiries and studies continue to be ignored by all levels of Canadian governments from federal to provincial.
While the Special Investigations Unit continues its work, what will be telling is how Tyresse Kenny Padro Cree Roundsky’s death and the many deaths before Tyresse say about policing in Indigenous communities and the continued ignorance by the Canadian governments, including the ongoing underfunding of First Nations policing and appropriately funding policing reforms. As policing budgets balloon across Canada, despite research indicating no correlation between increasing the municipal (non-Indigenous) policing budgets and lowering crime rates, the same cannot be said for Indigenous communities and their forces.
There are many Indigenous communities working to reform and transform their relationships with policing in their communities. That is, Indigenous-led policing, more culturally embedded and encouraging younger people to pursue opportunities in policing through positive relationships. This is not just in concept but in practice. I have seen it transform relationships with young Indigenous people in Alberta, working in remote northern communities and establishing community-based programming encouraging positive relationships with the RCMP or local treaty police. A caution is necessary: the funding of policing in Indigenous communities must not come at the expense of reallocating funds from other areas like health care, education or arts — all of which are important for the health and well-being of our collective communities in Canada, not just Indigenous communities.
This is also what the Supreme Court of Canada emphasized in its landmark November 2024 decision: the provincial government had to pay $767,745 to the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation to remedy years of underfunding to its police service. The court found that Quebec had acted dishonourably by refusing to negotiate in good faith over needed resources. Namely, that withholding fair funding breached the honour of the Crown.
This is the second part of a two-part series. Part one: What to make of the Wapekeka courtroom shooting, part one.
Naomi Sayers is an Indigenous lawyer from the Garden River First Nation with her own public law practice. She sometimes teaches primarily on Indigenous rights and governance issues. She tweets under the moniker @kwetoday.
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