Co-development of First Nations Police Services Legislation: Objectives and Guiding Principles

DRAFT – For discussion

May 3, 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to identify the shared goal of the legislation and to set out the “Objectives and Guiding Principles” of the legislation to meet that goal. These “Objectives and Guiding Principles” are designed to be high-level to support ample flexibility in the co-development phase.

Rationale

First Nations communities across Canada continue to suffer from major public safety crises, including disproportionate levels of crime, violent crime, and the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). First Nations have long called for reform to how First Nations police services are funded in Canada, which is currently via the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (Annex A), and have advocated for a legislative framework that recognizes First Nations police services as an essential service, is broadly accessible and provides funding that is predictable, sustainable and reflective of the unique needs and realities of First Nations police services and the communities they serve.  These calls for reform were echoed in Canada’s Spring 2022 engagement process and the Assembly of First Nations’ parallel engagement process.Note de bas de page1

Reforming the way in which First Nations police services are supported has been an element of various declarations and reports on advancing First Nations self-determination and improving service delivery in First Nations. These include the:

Guided by a joint commitment to reconciliation

In June 2017, the Prime Minister of Canada and the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Joint Priorities, in which “policing and community safety issues affecting First Nations” was identified as the first shared priority. Later, the 2020 Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly passed a resolution to “work with the relevant ministries to co-develop a legislative framework to designate First Nations Policing as an essential service…”Note de bas de page2

Solidifying the government’s commitment, in 2019 and 2021, the Minister of Public Safety was mandated to “…co-develop a legislative framework for First Nations policing, which recognizes First Nations policing as an essential service”. To advance this joint initiative, Public Safety Canada and the Assembly of First Nations, with the support of the First Nations Police Chiefs Association and the First Nations Police Governance Council, established a co-development working group to work respectfully, collaboratively, and transparently to co-develop federal legislation that recognizes First Nations police services as an essential service in a manner consistent with the recognition of the First Nations’ right to self-determination.Note de bas de page3

Public Safety is committed to advancing reconciliation between the Government of Canada and First Nations and recognize that this is an ongoing process. This includes co-developing legislation which advances First Nations self-determination and self-government while respecting the nation-to-nation relationship which respects the uniqueness of each First Nation. As such, the co-development of the First Nations police services legislation would be advanced in alignment with the:

Engagement informing objectives and guiding principles

In Spring 2022, Canada and the Assembly of First Nations launched parallel engagement processes to hear directly from First Nations, First Nations organizations, First Nations police services, First Nations police boards/ commissions, First Nations women’s, youth and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people and organizations. Throughout the co-development process, Canada has collaborated with the Provinces and Territories, First Nations Modern Treaty and Self-governing Agreement signatories, the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association (FNCPA), and the First Nations Police Governance Council (FNPGC) to identify practical considerations to inform legislation.

Canada’s “What we heard” report, engagement reports produced by the AFN, and the FNCPA, IPCO and QFNIPD Joint Position Paper “Re: Federal Indigenous Policing Legislation” will inform further expert engagement on what was heard and discuss practical and technical considerations in the co-development of elements to inform legislation.

Findings to date

Throughout various engagement sessions under Public Safety Canada’s mandate, First Nations participants were overwhelmingly clear that First Nations police services recognized as essential services means that funding for First Nations police services should be predictable, equitable, accessible, flexible, stable and responsive to First Nations police services operational requirements and to community priorities and needs.  Decisions on funding need to be based on fair and transparent processes which involve federal, provincial and First Nations representatives.

Participants also stated that First Nations police services must be treated as substantively equivalent to other police services, and must be culturally responsive and respectful of the communities they serve.

Feedback received from engagement, discussions with First Nations, reports, inquiries and research studies have informed the following objectives and guiding principles for the co-development of First Nations police services legislation.

Objectives & Guiding Principles

Public Safety Canada believes that the goal is a First Nations police services legislation which: Supports First Nations on their path of self-determination and self-government by recognizing First Nations police services as essential services.

Public Safety Canada posits that in order to achieve this goal, that the co-development of the “Elements” to inform the First Nations police services legislation will proceed as per the following “Objectives and Guiding Principles”.

Objective 1: Legislation founded on Canada’s commitment to reconciliation by supporting First Nations on their path of self-determination and self-government.

Guiding Principles

Objective 2: Legislation which recognizes First Nations police services as essential services.

Guiding Principles

Objective 3: Legislation supported by appropriate funding which articulates a decision-making process concerning funding for First Nations police services and First Nations police governance that is grounded in partnership and respect.

Guiding Principles

Objective 4: A framework for implementation that supports the objective of recognizing First Nations police services as essential services.

Guiding Principle

Objective 5: Legislation which clearly articulates the roles of First Nations, provincial/ territorial governments and federal government.

Guiding Principle

Annex A: Background on the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program

There are currently 35 First Nations police services across Canada and one Inuit police service, serving 155 First Nations and Inuit communities. They are located mainly in Ontario and Quebec, with a smaller presence across all western Canadian provinces. All First Nations and Inuit police services operate according to existing provincial police legislation and regulations.

First Nations police services all receive financial support through the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), a discretionary contribution program created in 1991 that provides federal funding to support professional, dedicated and culturally responsive policing services in eligible First Nations and Inuit communities. Under the FNIPP, eligible costs are shared with provinces and territories in accordance with a 52% federal and 48% provincial/territorial cost-share ratio. Self-Administered Police Service Agreements, which are the agreements used to provide federal and provincial funding for First Nations and Inuit police services, are signed by three parties: the First Nation(s) or Inuit communities, the relevant province, and the federal government.

For many years now, First Nations police services have faced significant challenges and financial obstacles in being able to deliver the full range of policing services, in part due to the limitations of the FNIPP. First Nations police services and community leaders have raised various issues, including:

Recognizing these challenges, many First Nations policing organizations, reports, inquiries and research studies have called for reforms to the program and/or the creation of federal legislation recognizing First Nations police services as essential services.

In response to these calls for reform, Budget 2021 announced funding to support culturally responsive policing and community safety services in Indigenous communities including $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.

Footnotes

  1. 1

    Summary of the 2022 Federal Engagement on First Nations Police Services Legislation What We Heard Report (publicsafety.gc.ca)

    PLACEHOLDER- AFN ENGAGEMENT REPORT

  2. 2

    At time of finalization of this document, the AFN had passed another resolution (Resolution 51/2022: First Nation Sovereignty over Policing) in this area, which was adopted on January 25, 2023.

  3. 3

    At time of finalization of this document, this WG had not yet been established.

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