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Results: 1 - 15 of 451
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Minister, for being here today. As you know, we always appreciate your time.
Minister, you know that I'm all about talking about about outcomes and results and some of those kinds of things. We've had this conversation before.
I have a couple of quick questions up front. I will ask you to be brief in your answers so that I can get to the substance of another couple of questions after that.
You department has committed $43.7 million over five years “to co-develop a legislative framework” for first nations policing that recognizes first nations policing as “an essential service”. We recently completed a study on exactly that. When we had officials from four different departments at committee, not a single one of those people could actually define what “policing as an essential service” was. Would it frustrate you that nobody from the department actually had a definition of what we're aiming for?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I think, MP Vidal, that it's frustrating to indigenous communities who have been.... Again, when I spoke about things that we take for granted, certainly people who look like me take policing for granted.
There's an element in here that's important to highlight. My department deals with a sort of companion aspect of policing as an essential service, as a relationship partner with Public Safety. The bulk of that will be led by Minister Bill Blair, firstly as he continues to fund the first nations policing program, but then to expand it and do the consultation work necessary to define and reflect the needs of communities, whether it's the treaty areas or anywhere across Canada that where that service is needed for the health and safety of communities, and foremost for women and children as a key response to the MMIW calls for justice and the TRC report.
Yes, absolutely, it's frustrating, but there is also an aspect of this where we need that input from communities, to keep working with communities and putting forth a piece of legislation that will recognize that essential service.
The part that I'm responsible for, to be clear and—
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am on the territory of the Cree and Anishinabe of Abitibi—Baie‑James—Nunavik—Eeyou in Quebec.
My question is for Ms. Van De Bogart.
Ms. Van De Bogart, you mentioned a hotline earlier. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this hotline that people can use to report cases of human trafficking?
Michelle Van De Bogart
View Michelle Van De Bogart Profile
Michelle Van De Bogart
2021-06-01 12:53
Thank you for the question. I hope you can hear through the translation.
The hotline is a toll-free service. I mentioned that it's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It refers victims to local law enforcement, to shelters and to other supports and services. Because it's available all the time—and, as I mentioned, in over 200 languages, 27 of them indigenous—it allows an opportunity for people to call and obtain all sorts of information and to have specific supports put in place that they might need.
We speak about victims, but this service allows people to find avenues for shelter or perhaps for addressing issues around sexual and physical abuse and domestic violence, and they can get information from law enforcement as well.
The hotline has trained operators, and they are trauma informed. There is an understanding and a recognition when they are speaking to these individuals of how to interact with them and how to support the victims and be able to direct them to the supports that they require.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
My next question is for all of you.
Do you have any recommendations for improving the ability of government institutions and indigenous organizations to identify potential victims and locations of human trafficking?
Michelle Van De Bogart
View Michelle Van De Bogart Profile
Michelle Van De Bogart
2021-06-01 12:55
One of the things I want to speak to you about is one of the pillars of the national strategy, specifically about building capacity and working with our partnerships.
We're working in collaboration with federal, provincial and territorial partners. I work with my colleagues in other departments to strengthen, to share ideas and to inform. Part of that is consultation and conversations with grassroots organizations, elders, indigenous leaders and indigenous organizations to try to find ways that we can respond and offer support.
The voices of those who are survivors and those who have been impacted by human trafficking are important in order for us to build, to strengthen and to continue to grow in offering support through Public Safety.
Sam Jaroudi
View Sam Jaroudi Profile
Sam Jaroudi
2021-06-01 12:57
For the RCMP, I would say that building trust with communities is the most important thing in tackling this issue.
As mentioned earlier, victims and witnesses and their families are very reluctant to come to law enforcement. However, we've built a lot of networks and relationships and we participate in a lot of community events and discussions on human trafficking to have that exposure between police and the public, and hopefully that plays out over time.
We recognize that it's not something that can be achieved overnight, but we're working hard on that aspect. We're also supporting that approach by training our police officers and employees in general on being culturally sensitive, as well as utilizing trauma-informed approaches.
View Bob Bratina Profile
Lib. (ON)
I call this meeting to order, acknowledging first of all that in Ottawa we're meeting on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on April 29, 2021, the committee is continuing its study of enforcement on first nations reserves.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I will go through some best practices.
Participants, you may speak and listen in the official language of your choice. At the bottom of your screen, on the globe icon, you can select “Floor”, “English” or “French”. As you present your testimony or answer questions, you can switch languages without having to touch that button again. When speaking, ensure that your video is on. Please speak slowly and clearly. When not speaking, your mike should be on mute.
Pursuant to the motion adopted on March 9, 2021, I must inform the committee that as of 8 a.m. this morning, Robert Louie, Michael Anderson, Leroy Denny and Doris Bill had not completed the technical pretest.
With us today for just under two hours by video conference are the following witnesses: Robert Louie, chairman, First Nations Lands Advisory Board; Chief Heidi Cook and Andrew Beynon, director, First Nations Land Management Resource Centre; Chief Leroy Denny, Eskasoni First Nation; Chief Doris Bill, Kwanlin Dün First Nation; and Chief Garrison Settee and Michael Anderson, policing and public safety adviser, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc.
I am informed that Chief Louie and Chief Cook are appearing jointly and will be splitting their six-minute opening statement time. Accordingly, we will begin with them and go on through the rest of our witnesses.
Chief Louie, you have the floor for six minutes.
Robert Louie
View Robert Louie Profile
Robert Louie
2021-05-25 11:12
Good day, Mr. Chair and honourable committee members.
I am Robert Louie, chairman of the Lands Advisory Board. My colleague is Andrew Beynon, who works in the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre. He will also be presenting.
We represent the first nations that are self-governing and pass laws under land codes. Some of our first nations have been operational with law-making powers since the turn of the 2000 millennium on January 1, 2000.
We have a serious problem with enforcement and recognition of land code law enforcement by the courts, RCMP and policing authorities. Law-making and self-determination is meaningless without enforcement. Currently, there is a gap. We urge this committee to recommend immediate federal action to resolve these enforcement issues.
The most important message to this committee is the need to solve the crisis in enforcement of first nation laws now, this year—not next year or years later, but now.
This committee has heard about complexity, risks, funding, resourcing, federal-provincial considerations and the need to build partnerships. The focus must turn to answers instead of questions. We urge this committee to sound the alarm by pointing out how much damage is being caused by the failure to enforce first nation laws.
First nations are suffering harm because trespassing, family violence, illegal dumping, violations of COVID-19 restrictions and other offences are occurring right now, and there is no clear enforcement in place. Chief Rempel of K'ómoks First Nation spoke with this committee about the challenges she has faced in dealing with trespassers. Other land code first nations have had to deal with similar trespassing problems, including alleged drug dealers, bikers, homeless encampments and residents of trailers without proper water and sewage hookups. Many land code first nations have faced challenges with illegal dumping and difficulty controlling some environmentally harmful businesses on reserve. The Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management has included matrimonial and real property provisions for decades, but there are major and risky gaps in the enforcement system intended to protect spouses and children.
Land code first nations have tried to control the COVID-19 pandemic on their lands. There has been nothing but failure on this front, with federal and RCMP officials suggesting that old colonial Indian Act bylaws should be used rather than land code authority. Federal officials do not seem to understand that many first nations consider the Indian Act offensive. Land code first nations are past the bylaw phase of the Indian Act. Land code laws are passed by the first nation, not bylaws under the jurisdiction and legislation of the Indian Act.
The crisis in enforcement of first nation laws has consequences for all Canadians. The cost to clean up environmental damage is far more than prevention. Family violence has social costs far beyond individual families. Well-regulated communities contribute to economic prosperity.
We urge this committee to call for a more serious and focused federal report. This committee has heard from five federal agencies. Who has the lead role in the federal bureaucracy for solving the enforcement of the first nation laws crisis? There is a circular firing squad of inaction in the bureaucracy. Questions such as these are asked: What is the source of authority for police officers? What about risk of liability? Too often, the bureaucracy has stopped at questions without driving to answers.
We recommend the appointment of a special federal adviser to help lead the bureaucracy and report to this committee within the next six months. Canada's guidelines for enforcement of Indian Act COVID-19 bylaws excluded the framework agreement and self-government. In our view, this has accidentally sent a perverse message that only the colonial Indian Act works.
We urge this committee to call for federal-provincial solutions. We are seeking to prosecute offences in the provincial courts. The committee should call on federal experts to advise within the next six months on what is needed to unlock provincial co-operation. Federal-provincial discussions will inevitably raise funding concerns, but this should not delay figuring out how to make this work.
Federal funding for land code first nations has increased over the years, but there is still not enough funding to support an adequate enforcement system comparable to other governments in Canada. Funding for enforcement of land code laws should be looked at and increased. Land code first nations understand federal and provincial concerns over resources and funding. We also want an effective and low-cost system and we will work hard to achieve that.
In conclusion, several land code first nations are pursuing pilot projects that we hope will be major successes in the near future. Committee members may be interested in registering at www.indigenousenforcement.com for tomorrow's May 26 discussion of a pilot project led by the Muskoday and Whitecap First Nations in Saskatchewan.
Thank you for your consideration, honourable committee. I will be pleased to answer any questions the committee will have at your leisure.
Thank you.
Heidi Cook
View Heidi Cook Profile
Heidi Cook
2021-05-25 11:18
Good morning. I apologize. There was a mix-up on the time zone.
Thanks for the invitation—
Leroy Daniel Denny
View Leroy Daniel Denny Profile
Leroy Daniel Denny
2021-05-25 11:18
Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you here from the Eskasoni First Nation community. It's a sunny day here in the beautiful territory of Unama'ki, located on the east coast of Canada. Eskasoni is the largest Mi'kmaq community, with a population of almost 4,700 people.
My name is Chief Leroy Denny, and I am the chief of the community of Eskasoni. I thank you for the invitation to appear before your committee on the motion to study enforcement on first nation reserves.
I was born and raised in Eskasoni, here in my community. My grandfather was also chief of my community. Also, my godfather was a Vietnam vet and a police chief for Eskasoni for many years, and one of the key people who started a police department, the Unama'ki Tribal Police, which I'm going to talk about.
I'm here to address the current policing practices and enforcement in first nation communities.
There is no denying that the impacts of colonialism continue to reverberate in all of our indigenous communities across the country. The costs of policing on reserve remain a source of conflict requiring resolution. Canada's position to hold policing on reserve as a joint responsibility with the provinces has created a jurisdictional confusion that results in inefficient and under-resourced policing, and our community members are the ones who suffer at the end of the day. A special constable program continued on the first nation communities throughout Nova Scotia in the seventies, a program that was underfunded and under-resourced. Since this time, because of these issues, the Mi'kmaq lobby for control over policing in their communities.
As a response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Donald Marshall inquiry, the Unama'ki Tribal Police was created in 1994, under the umbrella of the federal first nation policing policy, to provide policing to all five Mi'kmaq communities in Cape Breton, which are Eskasoni, Membertou, Potlotek, Wh'koqma'q and Wagmatcook. I was formerly a employee as a jail guard, and also as a part-time dispatcher at the time, which was one of my first jobs when I was really young.
Attaining control over our policing was a key component in achieving self-determination and enhancing control of enforcement in our communities. This was a decolonized method of offering police services. In it, cultural methodology was used and implemented in community police methods to resolve problems and promote community healing and trust, using our language. In the late nineties and early 2000s, this essential program was defunded, and the RCMP established the Community Aboriginal Diversity Policing Service to serve first nation communities.
Presently, we have RCMP serving our community. I commend their efforts in policing our community, because we have some Mi'kmaq police who are on the force. My own brother served both in the Unama'ki police and the RCMP for our community, and he retired a couple of months ago.
However, as a leader and a community member, I cannot help but see the injustices that we continue to face, not only in becoming self-determined but also in our health and safety on reserve.
When the global pandemic hit last year, there was a directive that the police in indigenous communities and the judiciary would assist indigenous communities to enforce their COVID bylaws, which are the lockdowns we have. However, the reality was not this. What happened was that they didn't respect our bylaws. We had our own curfews, our own lockdowns, and they weren't respected. We had our own restrictions, and we had issues with the police. I ended up calling my MP, to the top office, to make sure our bylaws were respected, but it was very difficult for us for our security and to make sure that the lockdown to keep COVID out was respected.
This issue also hinders our ability to enforce laws made on reserve. Bylaws are not respected and are not honoured by current policing authorities. It makes becoming self-determined within our communities difficult. It was very difficult.
Before I end my submission to the committee today, I would like to discuss the issue of health and safety on reserve in policing. Due to personal experience, I can attest to the issue we face regarding this issue.
At the end of February, February 28, one of my directors, the CEO for Crane Cove Seafoods, was shot. He's my neighbour and also my family member, my first cousin. He was shot next door. To this day, we don't know who shot him.
The first person he called was me because I was next door, down the road. He called me, and I called 911. There was a sound of distress on the phone. He had been shot; there had been two shots.
My family and I all heard gunshots here. I was on 911 for at least a good four minutes. When I got there, 911 told me not to go in, but my family member was in distress, so I had to go in. It had already been 10 minutes, and we were still waiting for the police and still waiting for the paramedics. I had to go in. God knows, I didn't know if there was a shooter there, but I had to sacrifice my own life to save my family member.
After 20 minutes, I had to take him to my vehicle and drive him to the ambulance station. There were no police yet. To this day, I don't know why. I'm still dealing with the trauma. There was a lot of blood I had to deal with. Luckily, he survived. He's recovering.
After 30 minutes—I counted the minutes when I made my statement—the police ended up going to the house to start an investigation. It was poorly done.
He relied on the police and the paramedics. He relied on me. I was the first person to get there. I took him to the ambulance. That shouldn't be. Community members shouldn't be doing that, saving lives in the line of fire. It's the police. We rely on our police and we trust them. That's in the agreements. I shouldn't be doing it; it should be them. I still have a lot of questions about that, and it's not the end of it.
I'll end right there.
Doris Bill
View Doris Bill Profile
Doris Bill
2021-05-25 11:26
Good morning, everyone, and thank you for the invitation to be part of this important conversation. I hope you are all well.
My name is Doris Bill and I am chief of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation. We are a self-governing first nation, an urban first nation. Our traditional territory is located in and around the city of Whitehorse, Yukon.
We settled our self-government and final agreements 16 years ago, in 2005. These modern treaties empower us to manage our settlement lands, to enact legislation and to make our own decisions in the best interests of our citizens—to be self-determining.
I am here today to share some information about our first nation and our journey to create a collaborative, community-driven approach to addressing safety, support and enforcement in our traditional territory.
Many indigenous people and indigenous communities in Canada have a complicated relationship with the RCMP. Our first nation is no different. History has made it difficult to trust. People sometimes need to be reminded that the police were involved in the trauma that came with residential schools, the sixties scoop and the forced relocation of our people. These events are still a part of our people's living memory, and that trauma continues to be passed down through generations.
We cannot change the past, but we can look forward to a brighter future, one in which we can work together for mutual benefit.
I do not support recent calls to defund policing services. Here at home I am sure our police department could use additional resources. In some cases, increased demands and inadequate resources have had a trickle-down effect, especially as this relates to prioritized calls and response times. At one point, citizens reported that at times it would take an hour or more for officers to show up, and there were occasions when no officers attended at all.
To provide some insight into where I am coming from, as a former journalist I am aware of the crime in our area. However, the reality of the situation truly hit home when there were two murders in our community shortly after I was elected in 2014. These tragedies struck at the very core of our people, and they were a catalyst for change.
The first step towards healing is to admit that there is a problem. In our case, we chose to listen, learn from one another and put what we heard into action. Through many discussions, we learned of numerous break-ins and other crimes in our area. We saw that most of the violent crimes were committed by people who didn't belong in our community. We heard from single moms who were sleeping with baseball bats beside their beds, from elders who didn't feel safe going out for a walk, from citizens concerned with bootlegging and drug houses and from parents wanting reassurance that their children would be safe playing outside in the neighbourhood.
Together, under the community's direction, we created a comprehensive community safety plan; established an inter-agency working group of partners, including the RCMP, bylaw services, SCAN, Public Safety and Investigations and the Correctional Service of Canada; and built an innovative community safety officer, or CSO, program, which launched in 2016. It is the CSO program that I wish to highlight today.
The program is centred on the concept that the safety, health and well-being of Kwanlin Dün citizens would be significantly enhanced through the intensive and consistent presence of safety officers who come from the community itself. Therefore, all of the four full-time and two on-call CSOs who work on our lands are citizens or have a strong connection to the community.
CSOs help mediate disputes, they provide safe rides to safe places, and they connect citizens to other services, such as the RCMP, family and child supports, and legal services when needed.
They patrol our streets. They are visible and they are known. They do not replace the RCMP or any other service in our community. We understand the value and need for policing and bylaw services and other government services from partner organizations, but the CSOs help to bridge the gap between our citizens and those necessary services, and they help our citizens to achieve better outcomes from their interactions with those services. In fact, it is the strength of our partnerships that make this program possible and successful. The support we receive from the Yukon government, Canada and the RCMP is essential, and we have seen that it is working. Kwanlin Dün is proud of this program and how citizens and elders report feeling safer with the CSOs on patrol. We see fewer calls to the RCMP; as a result, they can focus on dealing with the things they really should be dealing with.
We remain committed to the process of building community-driven, culturally relevant services for our citizens.
Another step forward came last summer when we signed a historic letter of expectation with the RCMP. It promotes positive and co-operative relationships and defines policing priorities, goals and strategies that are specific to the needs of Kwanlin Dün. I won't say it has been an easy process, but it has been extremely rewarding for our community as a whole. Ultimately, it is about choosing a path forward where strong partnerships allow us to create and steer the kind of policing we know we need in our community.
I think we can agree that together we can bring about change.
Shä`w níthän, gùnálchîsh, mähsi'cho and thank you. I welcome your questions.
Garrison Settee
View Garrison Settee Profile
Garrison Settee
2021-05-25 11:34
Tansi, boozhoo, edlanet'e.
On behalf of the 26 MKO first nations nations under our administration and at least 73,000 people, I am pleased to have the opportunity to share with the committee some of MKO's views on enforcement on first nations reserves.
I will also be making a few references to the MKO book of documents that MKO has provided to assist the committee.
With the help of Mike Anderson, MKO has seven key points.
First, Indian Act bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act are federal regulations under section 2 of the Interpretation Act, subsection 2(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act and subsection 7(l) of the Statutory Instruments Regulations. The B.C. Court of Appeal has confirmed this at paragraph 12 of its 1987 decision in R. v. Jimmy.
Second, and most fundamentally, Canada has failed in its duty to enforce and prosecute these valid laws of Canada. First Nation bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act have not been enforced by policing authorities or prosecuted for 25 years in Manitoba. This is a quarter of a century.
The protocol relating to the enforcement and prosecution of bylaws adopted pursuant to sections 81 and 85.1 of the Indian Act, mentioned by government witnesses before this committee, confirms that the Indian Act bylaws are not being enforced or prosecuted in Manitoba. Except for the 11 very recent protocol agreements, this has been the case across Canada.
Particularly in remote first nations communities served by periodic RCMP patrols, communities are in crisis due to the uncontrolled bootlegging and drug dealing fuelled by long-term non-enforcement of section 85.1 bylaws.
Communities are also unable to see or ensure that COVID-related emergency measures are being enforced by police and that charges are being laid and offences are being prosecuted. There is no deterrence, and compliance is undermined.
Third, we are making some important progress after a concerted months-long campaign carried out jointly with the First Nations Lands Advisory Board, the Land Management Resource Centre and the Manitoba Public Interest Law Centre.
MKO has been working with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the commanding officer of RCMP D Division to develop and support operationalizing a protocol that can be applied by all 26 first nations in our territory. The protocol applies only to the enforcement and prosecution of Indian Act bylaws in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the protocol is not a long-term fix of enforcement and prosecution issues.
The Manitoba Department of Justice very recently committed to adopting an MKO recommendation to revise the 2021-22 first nation safety officer programming. These amendments will include a recognition that FNSOs have peace officer powers when enforcing all subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 Indian Act bylaws. These revisions to the FNSO operating agreements are important to clarify the powers of FNSOs when enforcing COVID-19-related bylaws under the protocol.
Mr. Anderson will continue.
Michael Anderson
View Michael Anderson Profile
Michael Anderson
2021-05-25 11:37
Fourth, although we've made some progress regarding the recognition, respect, enforcement and prosecution of band bylaws, First Nations Land Management Act laws have not been enforced by policing authorities or prosecuted by Crown prosecutors for 20 years, since the coming into force of Bill C-49 in 1999.
As to the enforcement of land code emergency laws, the RCMP says, “The RCMP recognizes First Nations' authority under the FNLMA. However, there are concerns as to whether the FNLMA Land Codes provide the legal authority to enact COVID-19 related laws.” Please see page 13 of our documents.
ISC says, “I appreciate the frustration felt by First Nations who have taken on such fundamental aspects of their governance through the enactment of a Land Code, only to be forced to rely on Indian Act authorities”. Please see the MKO's book of documents, page 16.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says the role of PPSC set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions Act is inapplicable to FNLMA land codes and FNLMA first nation laws.
Fifth, there's a harmful uncertainty related to the appointment and empowerment of first nation safety officers to act as peace officers. Simply put, you have to be a peace officer to stop, search, seize and detain, and you need those four powers in order to effectively enforce first nation bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act.
Sixth, PPSC and the RCMP do not accept the validity of Indian Act bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. Parliament repealed the ministerial power of disallowance and approval of Indian Act bylaws effective December 15, 2014, with the coming into force of Bill C-428. However, as PPSC witnesses have advised this committee and MKO, PPSC will not recognize the validity of bylaws enacted on or after December 16, 2014, unless reviewed by “an appropriate federal government department.”
PPSC, Indigenous Services Canada and the RCMP have each advised this committee and MKO that they will not review bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. Therefore, there is no federal department that will review existing Indian Act bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. This means that the protocol will not apply to any existing post-Bill C-428 bylaws, including the health and safety bylaws and their related health orders that have been specifically enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. PPSC's acceptance of MKO's proposal to conduct a third party review along with the Public Interest Law Centre appears to be the principal, if not the only, pathway to ensuring that the protocol will apply to the existing first nation COVID-19 emergency laws in the MKO region.
Seventh, the gaps uncovered by the COVID-19 pandemic, including those highlighted in evidence recently presented to this committee, reveal that the legislative framework, the federal civil service and policing authorities are incapable of supporting or are unwilling to support the exercise of first nations' self-determination and law-making powers enacted by Parliament through Bill C-428 and the First Nations Land Management Act.
Grand Chief Settee has a concluding comment.
Heidi Cook
View Heidi Cook Profile
Heidi Cook
2021-05-25 11:42
Good morning. It's Chief Heidi Cook. I am in Misipawistik Cree Nation, Treaty 5.
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