Two other Ontario tribal forces included in ruling
M’CHIGEENG—Federal Court Justice Denis Gascon has ordered Public Safety Canada (PSC) to extend funding to three Indigenous police services, including Manitoulin’s UCCM Anishnaabe Police Service, The Treaty Three Police Service (T3PS) and Anishinabek Police Service (APS) for a year as they continued with a Human Rights Tribunal Complaint seeking to change the agreements being proffered by the agency overseeing a joint funding program. The three Indigenous forces cover 45 First Nations with a population of more than 30,000 people, surrounding the coast of Lake Huron from Kettle Point to Fort William, including Manitoulin Island.
When it came time for the three police services to renegotiate their agreements with the government, they could not settle on certain terms, which they say restrict their ability to serve their communities. This includes how Indigenous police services allocate their money, limiting their ability to set up special police units to address drug and crime investigations or domestic violence. Subsequently, government funding for all three was cut off as of March 31.
Julian Falconer, legal counsel for Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (IPCO) said in a statement after the decision, “this decision is a complete vindication of the principled approach that the brave leaders of these three Indigenous police services have adopted in order to provide safety and security to the communities they serve. It is a shame that it took a judge’s order to force Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister Marco Mendicino to do the right thing.” He said it is inconceivable to him of the unfairness of how Indigenous police services are treated, calling it second class citizen-style treatment, penny-pinching and squeezing on issues of safety for First Nation communities. “It is an honour to act for IPCO in this matter as it continues its fight for equitable and fair policing for Indigenous communities.” He also said the decision brings a new dawn for Indigenous policing.
Kai Liu, president of IPCO and Chief of Police of T3PS, said regarding the ruling, “Our services have always been forced to operate with less funding and less resources than those of municipal police services. We have always had to do more with less. Not only does the decision of the federal court save our three services from being forced to cease operations, but the court also found that Canada has not been honourable in its dealings with us. We knew that we could not sign another funding agreement that was based on the discriminatory clauses found in section 6 of the Terms of Conditions (of the funding program agreement) and we are overjoyed that the funding will flow again without these conditions attached. I am humbled by the decision and on behalf of Chief Skye (APS) and Chief (James) Killeen (UCCM APS), wish to express my sincere gratitude to community members, leaders, police service members, municipal neighbours, and first responders and community safety partners for their continued support.”
“We are obviously relieved that the funding will continue to flow to our police service,” said UCCM APS Police Chief Killeen. “The members of our community deserve to feel safe and have police services properly and adequately funded so we are able to provide the services they want and need.”
“The UCCM Police and UCCM Tribal Council Chiefs as well as all police staff and officers stood steadfast in their support and belief that this was the right thing to do and the time had come for drastic changes for our police services,” said Chief of Police Killeen. “That has never been more apparent than with the recent crime wave involving drug trafficking, criminals from the GTA and organized crime groups preying on the vulnerabilities of our communities. This funding will be a start to the changes that are needed.”
On June 14, IPCO’s emergency motion was heard by Justice Gascon. IPCO sought to have the court relieve the three police services from compliance with what they felt was discriminatory clauses found at section 6 of the Terms and Conditions of the First Nation Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), established in 1996. The FNIPP normally covers operating costs for the three police services. The federal government administers the program and provides 52 percent of the funding. The province of Ontario provides 48 percent of the funding, and the respective First Nation communities also provide a small amount of additional funding.
Mr. Falconer said a federal court decision made in January 2022, along with decisions by the Quebec Court of Appeal, recognized “the funding model for Indigenous police services in Canada operates in an arbitrary and discriminatory fashion.”
Justice Gascon ruled that the three services be relieved from compliance with the offending clauses in the FNIPP terms, which (1) prohibited the financing of policing infrastructure and (2) prohibited expenditures on legal representation for Indigenous police services. A third clause, which prohibited specialized policing services such as canine units and homicide investigation teams, was removed by minister Mendicino last week, with what the court called a “last-minute” change to the FNIPP terms and conditions while the matter was under reserve.
Justice Gascon ruled that Canada had not acted honourably in its dealing with the three Indigenous police services, said IPCO. Justice Gascon said, “(Public Safety Canada) did not consistently follow its duty to act honourably and in the spirit of reconciliation as it kept insisting on the impossibility to negotiate the terms and conditions and the prohibitions they contain. The controlling question in all situations involving First Nations is ‘what is required to maintain the honour of the Crown and to effect reconciliation between the Crown and the aboriginal people with respect to the interests at stake?’ Canada always has an obligation to act in ways that maintain the honour of the Crown vis-a-vis Indigenous peoples and that are in line with the objective of reconciliation. PSC’s omissions in that respect in the context of the renewal of the funding agreements of the three police services is another element weighing in favour of IPCO on the balance of convenience.”
Justice Gascon found that Canada’s characterization of the terms and conditions as constraints on the federal government’s ability to work with Indigenous peoples was both incorrect and troubling. “With respect, it is fundamentally incorrect, and somewhat troubling, for Canada, PSC and Minister Mendicino to keep labelling the prohibitions listed in the terms and conditions as ‘constraints,’ when the evidence clearly demonstrates that PSC can unilaterally decide to modify any provisions of the terms and conditions at its own leisure and how it sees fit.”
“Now we have to start negotiating on a new contract,” said Police Chief Killeen. He explained that having funding cut off for First Nation policing services is distinct to their group only. “When a municipal chief of police argues for a new contract with mayor and council, the mayor doesn’t cut off funds if he disagrees with the police chief. The funds keep flowing. If no agreement is reached it would go to arbitration,” said Chief of Police Killeen. “UCCM APS refused to sign our five-year agreement because it is terrible and has been for 30 years. So, then the federal government just stopped funding us to pay anyone. We have been on a line of credit. That would never happen to RCMP, OPP, GSPS federal, provincial or municipal police services but it happens to First Nation police. And it happened to UCCM APS, Treaty Three and Anishinabek Police Service.”
Police Chief Killeen said, “First Nation policing has no arbitration process. Now, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal will hear our arguments. With the decision this funding just keeps UCCM APS going status quo until we enter the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal complaint hearings.”
Patsy Corbiere, chair of the United Chiefs and Councils of Mnidoo Mnising (UCCMM) told The Expositor after the federal court decision, “This is really good news. We expected it, but it shouldn’t have gone this far. No one should be treated like that, the UCCM police and the two other police forces involved should be treated the same as OPP and other provincial, federal and provincial police forces and deemed essential services.”
Designated police units important now more than ever
As to how critically important the speciality drug/crime units are required locally was outlined by Chief of Police Killeen at the UCCM APS annual general meeting last week. “Our calls for service were significantly lower this year compared to last year. However, the crimes were far more severe in nature and the crime severity index is much higher for our service region when compared to other parts of Ontario and Canada. This meant more time spent on work for major benchmark occurrences for all levels of frontline staff, resulting in increased overtime. The crime severity index mechanism works based on population. So, for instance in Toronto if there are 20-40 murders in a year it is based on their population of about four million people. In our community of just over 3,000 people we have had two homicides over the past year, and five on Manitoulin Island (if Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory is included). This is a per capita rate five times higher than Toronto and Canada. The disparity related to not having the specialized drug/crime units.” In 2022 UCCM APS saw another two attempted homicides and two aggravated assaults.
“UCCM APS does not receive funding to properly operate a fulltime drug and/or crime unit. It is thanks to the three officers who take on this role (along with a crime analyst), take additional training to undertake the work involved and working long hours away from their families doing double duty, working sometimes 24- to 36-hour shifts without the proper resources to do so. It is a testament to the work ethic and their desire to keep our communities safe.”
“That is the commitment these officers have to our communities. Through the efforts of our officers and civilian staff, we are pleased to report that all these major occurrences have all been solved and the accused persons have all been arrested and charged. They also worked tirelessly to tackle the opioid crisis that currently plagues our communities. Officers conducted a total of 10 Controlled Drugs and Substances Warrants on residences within our communities,” continued Chief of Police Killeen.
“We also saw the closure of Project Hewson, which was a joint force operation between the UCCM APS, Wikwemikong Tribal Police and OPP. This project, on its own, resulted in 107 charges, seizure of drugs valued at half a million dollars and approximately $12,000 in cash. Two handguns were also seized. He said the total value of the drugs and cash seized was $681,478.25.”
“The drugs and the dealers will be prevalent if there are not resources in place to provide enforcement,” said Chief of Police Killeen.
Chief of Police Killeen outlined the wage and pension disparity that First Nation police services officers are faced with compared to other policing services. “The wage disparity provided to all non-First Nation policing services in 2017 was never offered to First Nation police services.”
In the area of pensions, Chief of Police Killeen used an example that for two officers, one joining the OPP and another joining a First Nation police service at the same age of 22, who both work 30 years, the non-First Nation officer can receive a full pension at the age of 52, while a First Nation officer has to work an additional four years to receive the same.
“Why are these drug dealers coming to sell their drugs here? There is no concentration of dedicated enforcement. We need these specialized units, and it is one of the big reasons we didn’t sign the policing agreement (with the government),” said Chief of Police Killeen.
