44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 16, 2024 11:00AM
- Sep/16/24 8:32:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time tonight with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.
I would like to begin my remarks by extending my deepest sympathy to the family and friends whose loved ones have been killed. I also want to thank the member for Nunavut for the opportunity to debate this very important issue tonight, and the Speaker.
Several years ago, when I was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services, I met with the family of Colten Boushie and hosted a screening of the documentary, We Will Stand Up. Sadly, these six cases that have prompted this emergency debate remind me of the circumstances of too many indigenous people who have been killed. To indigenous people across this country, these killings are not new. The recent killings by both the RCMP and municipal police services are far too common, but they do not get the attention that they deserve. I am glad we have the opportunity tonight to have this emergency debate to highlight the issue and hopefully spark outrage from Canadians that can drive change.
We should acknowledge the work undertaken by all Canadians who have been seeking ways to meaningfully support the calls for justice from the final report of the inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people and the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Our government led the implementation of the 2021 federal pathway to address missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people and remains dedicated to advancing the calls for justice in partnership with indigenous peoples and provincial and territorial colleagues. That level of collaboration must be at the core of policing reform for indigenous communities, a key priority for the Government of Canada.
Senator Murray Sinclair said, “Systemic racism is when the system itself is based upon and founded upon racist beliefs and philosophies and thinking and has put in place policies and practices that literally force even the non-racists to act in a racist way.”
I would encourage everyone to sit with these words, particularly the last sentence, when he said that it literally forces even the non-racist to act in a racist way. When we hear these words, we can begin to understand how the very systems we take for granted, trust and rely upon can let us down and how even those who would never have consciously discriminated can actively engage in practices that, while unintentional, can disproportionately harm indigenous and racialized persons. What we are discussing here tonight is rooted in the systemic racism that continues to this day in our country against indigenous people, all too often resulting in devastating and deadly consequences.
I also want to talk about the issues facing indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people and the work I have done with my friend, the member for Winnipeg Centre. In our round tables, we heard repeatedly that police response was woefully inadequate. Families would not be believed and were turned away from the RCMP or police services, and their loved ones would later be found dead. That is unacceptable. We heard from organizations and individuals from coast to coast to coast, and the message was the same. Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit persons are being let down by our current systems, and while the solutions offered were not all the same, they were all grounded in the need for them to be regionally based and culturally appropriate, trauma-informed and led by indigenous knowledge.
We have heard loud and clear that we must recognize first nations police services as an essential service. This means that first nations police services are adequately funded to do their important work 24 hours, seven days a week. Through the co-development of legislation recognizing first nations police services as an essential service, we will be responding to call for justice 5.4.
Ensuring first nations can keep their community safe in the way that is best for them is something I worked on when I was at both Indigenous Services Canada and Public Safety Canada. I met with first nations leaders to discuss how they can best develop their own policing and community safety systems.
Not all solutions are police-based. When the public safety committee studied interactions between police and people in crisis, we learned that in at least one jurisdiction in Canada, 80% to 92% of all calls for service were related to social issues, mental health, poverty and homelessness.
It is no wonder that we also heard emphatic testimony from both police and community advocates to say that police should not be the primary or sole response option for calls such as these. I think of the good work being done at Kwanlin Dün First Nation to provide a community safety model based on supporting the mental health and social needs of the community, not just using policing services. Former chief Doris Bill from the Kwanlin Dün First Nation has spoken of the deep-rooted distrust of police in her community, where people see police as having failed to protect indigenous children from the sixties scoop, enforced residential school programs and responded inadequately to cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. Increasing or creating alternative resources, such as the community safety officer program in the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, could alleviate pressure on police services in situations that police may not be equipped or trained to handle.
Let us be clear: We can and should admire the initiative of indigenous communities who are piloting this type of frontline response model. However, we must also recognize the history of colonialism and systemic racism embedded in relations between police and indigenous peoples, which has precipitated this situation. Our government continues to work on co-developing legislation for first nations policing. All parties, including provinces and territories, must provide adequate, stable, predictable, equitable, flexible and responsive funding to meet the needs of first nations police services so that they can meet their requirements under provincial police legislation and respond to first nations policing priorities.
In parallel with our legislative goals, Public Safety Canada is launching a distinctions-based engagement process with Inuit and Métis communities to ensure that their policing priorities are better understood and supported. Based on what we hear through this engagement, the Government of Canada will explore options to advance equity of and access to culturally responsive police services.
Budget 2021 investments of $540 million over five years will help stabilize and expand the first nations and Inuit program. This responds directly to call for justice 5.5 through the provision of policing services that are professional and dedicated, as well as responsive to the first nations and Inuit communities they serve.
We also recognize that municipal police services must do better. Two of the recent killings were in urban centres. There are models such as the one in Halton region to send a mobile crisis rapid response team to mental health calls and to people in crisis. A team consists of a registered health care professional, either a nurse or a social worker, coupled with a specially trained uniformed police officer. These teams not only respond to calls but also advocate for persons and families in crisis; they ensure mental health assessments are completed, and they are better equipped to provide resources, help and support for all involved.
The RCMP must do more. The RCMP recognizes that the ability to carry out its important mandate depends on having the confidence and trust of partners and the community it serves. The RCMP is continually working toward building trusting relationships and delivering responsive, culturally aware and trauma-informed policing services. This work must be accelerated.
The government has invested in the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, or the CRCC. I commend the leadership of Commissioner Michelaine Lahaie and the work she and her team have been doing to hold the RCMP accountable, to establish clear timelines for the RCMP to respond to their recommendations, and to clear the backlog that existed. The RCMP needs to continue to work with the CRCC to ensure that the CRCC recommendations are implemented by the service.
I will close by saying that there is much more work that needs to be done, not just by the government and the RCMP but also by police services across the country. Systemic changes must take place in how police interact with indigenous people. Too many lives are at stake not to make these changes.
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- Sep/16/24 8:43:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as the hon. member knows, indigenous women are the fastest-growing population in our prisons right now and have been for a number of years. Those women are in prison because of addictions, trauma, mental health and poverty. Quite frankly, it has been proven that these tough-on-crime policies actually disproportionately impact indigenous and racialized people. They have also been proven to not be effective. His name is escaping me, but the gentleman who was in charge of justice for former prime minister Stephen Harper has written a book about these—
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- Sep/16/24 8:44:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Ben Perrin has written a book, which I have not read yet, about how these failed policies do not solve the crime issue but actually make it worse. These tough-on-crime policies will not keep Canadians safe; they would actually make it more dangerous for the public safety of Canadians and indigenous people.
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- Sep/16/24 8:45:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, former public safety minister Ralph Goodale said to me one time that police officers need as much training in human rights as they do in criminal justice. The RCMP is working with the University of Regina and working to enhance training. We need to make police services safe places for women, for indigenous people and for racialized people to be able to come in and change the culture within the service. There needs to be better training; we also need to do a better job of recruiting a diverse base. Further, we need to look at whether the RCMP is the right service to be responding in indigenous communities and whether the indigenous communities should be designing their own policing model; we need to leave that up to each individual community.
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- Sep/16/24 8:47:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, yes, absolutely. Police services could be funded better, but I do not know if that is the answer. It falls largely upon the provinces and territories to fund urban police services. However, it is not necessarily having police responding. We need to be supporting those dealing with addictions, mental health issues and homelessness. That would not be driving people into crime, so we need to be getting to the root cause.
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- Sep/16/24 9:26:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there was much in the hon. member's speech that I agreed with. When it comes to funding first nations policing, I would remind the hon. member that when the Harper government Conservatives were in power, first nations policing was grossly underfunded. One of the first things the public safety minister did was engage on that.
In 2018, $291 million was put into first nations policing, and in 2021, there was another $540 million. The hon. member talked about how not all of that money was spent, but he also talked about the importance of engaging with communities. I hope he would agree that these programs for first nations policing need to be led by indigenous peoples, as does the co-development of legislation. These are hard things to do that require hard work, and sometimes they require time.
I am wondering if the hon. member will commit that his party will support these additional funding investments and will ensure that first nations policing is co-developed with indigenous peoples and the Assembly of First Nations, not just dictated to them by the federal government.
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- Sep/16/24 9:44:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the hon. member has done a lot of work on the status of women committee, and one of the studies we did there was on indigenous women in the criminal justice system. That was quite a few years ago. I just wonder whether the hon. member could talk about the impact of colonial policies on indigenous women and girls, and the impact they are having on their interactions with the police. I believe that the member for Winnipeg Centre was saying that today the red dress alert study was tabled in the House, and perhaps the hon. member could talk a bit about that as well.
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- Sep/16/24 9:58:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague for her moving words, for recognizing the individuals who have been killed and for bringing their voice to Parliament.
At the beginning of her speech, she mentioned the role that the media plays in normalizing violence. I wonder if she could speak a little more about how that impacts what is happening. Also, does she see any role for government to play in the role the media has in normalizing that violence?
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