$7.8 million new funding agreement
by Michael Erskine
WIIKWEMKOONG—Wiikwemkoong Tribal Police Service (WTPS) announced the signing of a new $7.8 million policing agreement with Ontario and Canada, effective April 1, which will see 14 additional officers hired over the next three years—as well as the civilian staff needed to support the new officers. The new agreement will enable WTPS to continue its commitment to community safety and security in the face of new challenges.
“Historically, First Nation police services have been extremely underfunded,” said Wiikwemkoong Ogimaa Rachel Manitowabi. “This is especially true due to the influx of new issues that add to the intergenerational trauma and governmental oppression.” Ogimaa Manitowabi cited the infamous 1969 White Paper as an example.
The 1969 White Paper proposed to abolish all legal documents that had previously existed, including (but not limited to) the Indian Act, and all existing treaties within Canada comprising Canadian Indigenous law. The White Paper’s aim was to assimilate First Nations as an ethnic group equal to other Canadian citizens. The ripples of its provisions still resonate in Indigenous-government relations.
“The government has historically not treated us with the level we expect, nation to nation,” said Ogimaa Manitowabi. She noted that First Nations police services have been treated as “programs” as opposed to “services” which they demonstrably are. “We have been working to be recognized as services for some time.”
“It was a long time coming,” agreed WTPS policing agreement portfolio holder Joe Wabegijig, who noted that getting to this point had required numerous meetings over the past couple of years. The previous agreement expired on March 31, 2023.
The lack of adequate resources has long challenged First Nation police services in servicing their communities, said Ogimaa Manitowabi. “Despite years of advocacy, the government’s response has always been a ‘take it or leave it’ approach,” she said. “As a result of underfunding, we have been really limited in trying to meet new issues that have appeared over the last few years. These Southern Ontario issues have come to our territory. Drugs, gangs, violence, addressing that, combating that, these are challenges facing our police in trying to keep our communities healthy, happy and safe.”
The addition of 14 new officers over the next three years will go a long way toward providing the resources WTPS needs in order to serve the community and cut off the supply of illegal drugs being brought into the community by organized networks from Southern Ontario, noted Ogimaa Manitowabi.
The new funding agreement will also help to reduce the wait times for officers to respond to a call for service in the community.
Ogimaa Manitowabi commended the WTPS and the Wiikwemkoong Police Board for the work they have done over the past few years, despite being woefully underresourced. She characterized the funding agreement as “a step forward” in the relationship between Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory and the Crown.
