First Nations in Manitoba lack adequate security measures, including police, chiefs say

When Chief Derek Nepinak first heard of the mass stabbing tragedy in James Smith Cree Nation over the Labour Day long weekend, he saw parallels in the security measures in his own First Nation.

The death of Lydia Gloria Burns, who was slain while responding to a crisis call in James Smith Cree Nation, made him reevaluate whether the crisis team in Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek, should intervene in all crises.

"We do have a crisis intervention committee made up of local volunteers," Nepinak said. 

"They're going into volatile situations at times without the adequate resources to, you know, not only to intervene in the issue, but to even protect … themselves from potential harm."

There is no police force in Minegoziibe Anishinabe, which is 440 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. The closest RCMP detachment is 50 km away in Winnipegosis. 

After the James Smith Cree Nation killings, the gap in safety and security measures for First Nations is top of mind. Manitoba First Nations in remote areas are often left with little to no help when it comes to crisis intervention. 

Many communities rely on the provincially run First Nations Safety Officer Program (FNSOP), which was created to cover the gap created when the national band constable program was cancelled in 2015. 

"Community safety officers are essentially what I call glorified security guard[s] … they're mandated to observe and report and in emergency situations call in the RCMP," Nepinak said. 

Nepinak says his community of 2,500 people only receives enough funding to hire a part-time safety officer, which is not sufficient for the size of Minegoziibe Anishinabe. 

In a statement from Manitoba Justice, the province says the First Nations Safety Officer program is the largest of its kind in Canada, and safety officers have "the powers and protections of peace officers authorized under the Police Service Act and can enforce provincial statutes, band bylaws and certain Criminal Code authority." 

For Nepinak, the safety officer program is insufficient to ensure his community is safe. He says his community needs a slew of resources beyond policing, including mental health and addictions counselling.

"[Safety officers] don't have the resources nor the level of training that the previous constable program had," he said. 

Created in the 1960s, the national Band Constable Program was a federally funded program and, according to Nepinak, constables received extensive training from the RCMP. 

According to Public Safety Canada, the program was cancelled because "it was not safely or effectively meeting the policing needs of First Nation communities in Manitoba, Alberta and New Brunswick."