OTTAWA—Carol Hughes, MP for Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing, called on the government to provide stable, consistent funding for First Nations police services in the House of Commons last week.
“We all have a shared commitment to public safety but when it comes to Indigenous policing, services are chronically underfunded,” said MP Hughes. “Indigenous police forces such as those within my riding—the UCCM Anishnaabe Police, Wikwemikong Police Services, Anishinabek Police Service and the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service—do great work in serving First Nations communities. However, there is an urgent need to ensure that current negotiations to renew agreements include a healthy increase in core funding.”
“Often, only two officers are on duty per shift and when officers respond to a call in one community, it regularly leaves them unable to respond to calls from other First Nations communities,” said MP Hughes. “Through the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), policing services are funded through tripartite policing agreements between federal, provincial or territorial governments, and First Nation or Inuit communities. The federal government has a duty to ensure that First Nations policing is adequately funded to ensure safety within their own communities.”
“First Nations police services need more funding to hire more officers and dedicated funding for crime units to better respond to public safety issues so that no community is left unprotected.”
