Committee
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Add search criteria
Results: 91 - 105 of 349
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
I want to thank both of the witnesses for being here today.
I would like to start with you, Ms. Rempel. First of all, thank you so much for being here with us this morning.
The first thing I will say is, on the recommendations you talked about, please feel free to send those to the clerk, and we'll make sure they're included in the testimony.
The first question I have is around the land code.
It seemed to me from your presentation that when you spoke about that, it was a progressive process of moving toward self-governance. You moved out of something where the RCMP could come in and enforce; you moved to something that was promoted by the federal government, and now you're in a position where you can't enforce it. I just want to make sure I had that right.
Nicole Rempel
View Nicole Rempel Profile
Nicole Rempel
2021-05-06 12:45
Yes, that's correct.
I actually developed our land code law prior to being elected as chief. The big selling feature to members who are voting on whether or not to ratify a land code is that we have the ability to create our own laws, and they will be recognized in the courts and enforced by the RCMP. That's basically what the FNLM tells you. We go into this, telling our members that this is a great thing, and then when we get to the reality of it we find that, yes, we can create the laws, but we can't get the enforcement; we can't get the recognition in the courts without going through a costly process, like K'ómoks had to do.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
It was an expensive court case, and the representative from Indigenous Services Canada earlier today, it his presentation, called it a success. I'm just wondering if you would describe it as a success. Did this result in any ability of the RCMP to be able to come onto your nation and enforce this bylaw?
Nicole Rempel
View Nicole Rempel Profile
Nicole Rempel
2021-05-06 12:47
It's actually a law and not a bylaw. That's an important distinction, for sure.
I'm sorry. What was the question again?
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Was it a success, and has the court case made it possible for the RCMP to come and enforce your law?
Nicole Rempel
View Nicole Rempel Profile
Nicole Rempel
2021-05-06 12:47
Sadly, no. I would call it a success, absolutely. It is a precedent-setting case across Canada. I've been asked to speak all over Canada about this case. However, I'm facing this issue, literally today, with another trespass issue, and I don't have the confidence that the RCMP will be there to assist in the enforcement of our notice of trespass. Even though the previous orders and decision were that, ultimately, it needed to be enforced by the RCMP, I just don't feel confident that this is going to happen today.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
After this court case, did anyone from the federal government, after seeing this success, reach out and talk about how they could support creating solutions for your nation in terms of the enforcement of your laws?
Nicole Rempel
View Nicole Rempel Profile
Nicole Rempel
2021-05-06 12:48
No. I've been asked to speak by the Department of Justice in Ottawa, and I've done that with the lawyer several times, doing presentations on that case, but nobody has reached out to see how we could fix it, so today, when I have to go back up there to see if these trespassers have now left, there are no solutions in sight.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Was there any mechanism for you and your nation to recoup any of the costs to the nation to take on this really important court case?
Nicole Rempel
View Nicole Rempel Profile
Nicole Rempel
2021-05-06 12:48
It's important to note that the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre ended up reimbursing us for the cost of that court case. Today we will find out if these trespassers are now leaving. If they haven't and we have to go to court again, I'm not sure the resource centre will feel as generous this time around.
I know that in speaking with the inspector here locally, with the RCMP, he's feeling like his hands are a bit tied because there isn't that direction from his higher-ups to enforce. They want to; it's just that they need that direction.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
I've heard that as well from local RCMP across the riding. Often they feel very frustrated. They want to help but they can't, because there's not the clear pathway.
In terms of that discussion, how does it feel to be trying to govern your nation, having taken that step towards having a land code, doing all of the work to have your own laws in place, consulting obviously with your membership, and then not being able to enforce? One of the things that really hit me about your presentation today was when you said that in this case that you're dealing with later today, they're literally mocking you and saying go ahead.
How does that feel for you as a leader of your community? How does that resonate within your community?
Nicole Rempel
View Nicole Rempel Profile
Nicole Rempel
2021-05-06 12:49
It's absolutely frustrating. We're only speaking of the trespass issues, but I am regularly in the face of crack dealers who are not band members. They are guests of band members living on reserve. Because we have certificates of possession, we can't simply kick people out. They have rights to their homes and their properties.
I'm consistently putting myself in danger, because we can't get the support that is very desperately needed. It's frustrating from a leadership perspective to see how frustrated our members are. They ask why the chief and council aren't doing anything. We regularly have our RCMP liaison officer attend our meetings to try to explain to the membership why the chief and council can't achieve these things—why we can't kick crack dealers off our lands and why we can't deal with trespassers. It's because of the lack of authority given from above to the local RCMP detachments.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
There's continuous conflict in your own nation because you cannot enforce what you have tried to create a law for.
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
Ms. Rempel, just around building capacity, with 112 members on the reserve, in terms of the ability to build a justice system in your nation it looks like you purely don't have the numbers to be able to manage that capacity.
Are you attempting to? What's the process that you're going through?
I have 14 first nations in my area. All of them are dramatically larger than that. They are struggling as well.
Where would you like to see that go, in terms of a tribunal or something, so that we can get some more immediate justice? The timing of the justice in many cases.... Enforcement's an issue, but then if your golf clubs go missing and three years later you finally have some resolution to that, that's three golf seasons gone. You just go to the store and buy new golf clubs. How are you dealing with that in your community?
Results: 91 - 105 of 349 | Page: 7 of 24

|<
<
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
>
>|
Export As: XML CSV RSS

For more data options, please see Open Data