The UCCM Anishinabek Police Services (ASP) have finally begun negotiations with government representatives toward a new contract.
“We just started negotiations,” said UCCM ASP Chief James Killeen. “We are working towards a long-term tripartite agreement with the federal and provincial governments, with a number of meetings to be held leading to a new contract. We are now sitting down with government representatives in negotiations, rather than in the past where the terms and conditions (of contracts) were given to us. We are active participants in the mutual negotiations.”
Police Chief Killeen told the Expositor the UCCM APS is in negotiations with the governments, along with the Treaty Three Police Service (T3PS) and Anishinabek Police Services.
In June 2023, the federal court ordered Public Safety Canada to extend funding to the three Indigenous police services for 12 months, after the groups faced imminent shutdown due to a lack of funding. As a result, in negotiations with Ottawa, funding to the three police services had been curtailed for four months.
When it came time for the three police services to renegotiate their agreements with the government in 2023, they could not settle on certain terms, which they said restricted their ability to serve their communities. These terms included restrictions on how Indigenous police services allocate their money, limiting their ability to set up special police units to address drug investigations or domestic violence.
The police groups had asked a judge to order the government to lift three conditions, including in the funding framework called the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), established in 1996.
The FNIPP normally covers operating costs for the three police services, with the federal government administering the programs and providing 52 per cent of the funding. The province of Ontario provides 48 per cent of the funding, and the respective First Nations communities also provide a small amount of additional funding.
The previous funding agreement prohibited the police services from taking out loans to buy their own infrastructure, and from spending their funding on legal representation to interpret the funding agreements. As well, the Indigenous police services didn’t receive funding from the FNIPP for special units, such as major crimes and domestic assault units.
In his decision on the case in June 2023, Federal Court Justice Denis Gascon said that Indigenous communities served by the three services would suffer “irreparable harm if mandatory injunctive relief is not granted.”
“I further conclude that this is an exceptional situation where it is just and equitable for the court to intervene and to exercise its discretion in IPCO’s favour, in order to prevent the harm that will be caused to the public security and personal safety of Indigenous people residing in the communities serviced by T3PS, APS and UCCM if the cessation of funding for the three police services is maintained.”
The governments had one year to negotiate a new agreement with the three police services.
Police Chief Killeen explained, at the time of the court ruling in June 2023 and currently, the governments kept funds flowing to the three police services. “We are moving into and anticipate a new contract to have a budget that will complement recruiting and developing an enhanced police service with all the specialized units that other non-native Indigenous police services have that our communities are expecting and want, such as a drug unit. The drug unit was the number one thing that came out of a survey of local First Nation residents as being a priority in our communities.”
The Manitoulin detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is seeking the public’s assistance in a break-and-enter investigation.
On January 18, shortly before 4 pm, the Manitoulin OPP responded to a report of a break and enter on Main Street in Sables-Spanish Rivers township. Property owners reported to police that a firearm, ammunition, and various power and hand tools were stolen from the property.
If anyone has information, please contact the Manitoulin OPP at 1-888-310-1122. Should you wish to remain anonymous, you may call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or submit your information online at www.ontariocrimestoppers.ca where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000.
