INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY SAFETY AT RISK – CANADA CUTS OFF FUNDING FOR INDIGENOUS POLICE SERVICES
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Posted by Shelby Percival
- Posted in BlogsNews
For a copy of the Notice of Motion filed with the Federal Court click here.
On Wednesday May 3, 2023, the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario (“IPCO”) filed an emergency motion in Federal Court, urgently seeking that Canada cease enforcement of the discriminatory Terms and Conditions of the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (“FNIPP”). Canada is in defiance of the rule of law, specifically the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision of Dominique (on behalf of the members of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation) v. Public Safety Canada, 2022 CHRT 4, as well as the ruling of the Federal Court (Canada (Procureur général) c. Première Nation des Pekuakamiulnuatsh, 2023 CF 267) which upheld the Tribunal’s findings. Both decisions found Canada’s implementation of the FNIPP to be discriminatory and Canada has made no changes to the FNIPP since these decisions were released.
Canada’s actions have placed three IPCO member police services in a precarious position. Funding has expired for these three IPCO services, as of March 31, 2023, and they are being held hostage and required to sign onto the racist Terms and Conditions or else continue without funding. These three services provide policing to 45 communities across Ontario, and the result of this lack of funding from Canada is putting the health and safety of over 30,000 Indigenous people at risk.
IPCO represents the nine self-administered Indigenous police services that operate in Ontario.
The policing team at Falconers LLP, Julian Falconer, Asha James, Jeremy Greenberg, and Shelby Percival, are honoured to provide legal support for IPCO.
Related Documents:
Notice of Motion for Interim Relief filed by IPCO – May 3, 2023
CHRT Complaint filed by IPCO – March 29, 2023
Previous Postings:
https://falconers.ca/indigenous-police-services-push-back-on-discriminatory-funding/ – April 3, 2023
Media Coverage:
Colin Freeze, The Globe and Mail (May 5, 2023) – “First Nations police forces sue Ottawa over stalled funding talks”
