Families With no Recourse for Death Investigations Call for Disbandment of Thunder Bay Police Service
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Posted by Shelby Percival
- Posted in BlogsNews
Today, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (“NAN”) held a press conference with the families of Jenna Ostberg, Corey Belesky, and Mackenzie Moonias calling for the disbandment of the Thunder Bay Police Service. To view the press conference, click here.
The families have lost all faith and trust in the Thunder Bay Police Service to conduct competent Indigenous death investigations. The Thunder Bay Police Service has been held to task in a number of recent reports regarding racist investigations into the death of Indigenous people.
Enough is enough. These families deserve credible and unbiased death investigations and they are calling on the Province to address the dire situation in Thunder Bay as the Indigenous cold case files continue to pile up.
Related Documents:
- NAN Press Release – April 22, 2024
- Press Statement by Family of Mackenzie Moonias – April 22, 2024
- Falconers LLP PowerPoint Presentation – April 21, 2024
- Backgrounder Relating to the Deaths of Corey Belesky, Jenna Ostberg, and Mackenzie Moonias, and Stacey DeBungee – April 22, 2024
- Ostberg Complaint – April 22, 2024
- Belesky Complaint – April 22, 2024
- DeBungee Complaint – March 21, 2016
- Decision of Greg Walton re TBPS Staff Sergeant Harrison Police Service Act charges – July 19, 2022
- Senator Murray Sinclair “Thunder Bay Police Services Board Investigation – Final Report” – November 2018
- Report of the Office of the Independent Police Review Director “Broken Trust” – December 2018
- One Year After Broken Trust – Report on Implementation – February 2020
- Malcolm Mercer Administrator Report – August 18, 2022
Media Coverage:
Menaka Rama-Wilms and Willow Fiddler, The Globe and Mail (April 25, 2024) – “The call to disband the Thunder Bay police”
Sarah Law, CBC News (April 24, 2024) – “Chief of Thunder Bay’s embattled police force notes families’ ‘pain and suffering’ but says change takes time”
Sarah Law, CBC News (April 23, 2024) – “First Nations families who lost loved ones in Thunder Bay seek answers amid renewed heat on police service”
Willow Fiddler, The Globe and Mail (April 23, 2024) – “Thunder Bay Indigenous group wants province to dissolve the municipal police force”
Liam Casey, CTV News Northern Ontario (April 22, 2024) – “Ontario First Nation leaders call for disbandment of Thunder Bay police”
Doug Diaczuk, Timmins Today (April 22, 2024) – “First Nation leaders renew call to disband Thunder Bay police”
Rob Ferguson, The Toronto Star (April 22, 2024) – “’People are dying’: Indigenous families ask Doug Ford to disband Thunder Bay’s police force”
APTN National News (April 22, 2024) – “First Nation leads in Ontario call for disbandment of Thunder Bay police”
The Globe and Mail (April 22, 2024) – “Ontario First Nation leaders call for disbandment of Thunder Bay Police”
Tanya Talaga, The Globe and Mail (April 19, 2024) – “First Nations peoples have lost confidence in Thunder Bay’s police force”
Alex Brockman, CBC News (April 12, 2024) – “Ex-Thunder Bay police chief charged by OPP with obstruction, breach of trust”
Jordan Omstead and Liam Casey, Global News (April 12, 2024) – “Thunder Bay police chief arrested and charged in misconduct probe”
CBC News (April 9, 2024) – “Former Thunder Bay Police Service lawyer faces obstruction charges”
Dennis Ward, APTN News (April 9, 2024) – “OPP charges former legal counsel with Thunder Bay police with breach of trust, obstruction”
Tbay Newswatch (April 9, 2024) – “Former TBPS lawyer Holly Walbourne charged by OPP”
