Chiefs of Treaty 3 First Nations form a new board to address issues at T3 Police Services
Treaty Three Police won't close up shop - yet
First Nations police service board aims to address issue of chronic government underfunding
Jul 24, 2013 9:32 AM ET
First Nations in northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba may not lose their Aboriginal police force after all.
The Treaty Three Police Service sent out layoff notices earlier this month and threatened to shut down the force entirely, but that all changed after some critical meetings in Kenora yesterday.
The police service had told employees that government underfunding meant it couldn't honour the most recent collective agreement, but after yesterday's annual general meeting in Kenora, the force will stay in service for another year.
Constable Leilani Redsky stands with a picture of her family. (Nicole Ireland/CBC)
'Setting it up to fail'
Constable Leilani Redsky said the election of a new board makes a difference.
"These new members coming in, I think they're willing to work with us and that's all we asked for," she said.
Redsky said she believes her layoff notice will soon be cancelled and the police force serving more than two dozen First Nations will survive.
But first the new board has to deal with a problem facing Aboriginal police forces across the country: government funding.
Constable Mike Bennett, Treaty 3 police officer and union representative at a rally in Kenora on Tuesday. (Nicole Ireland/CBC)
The acting chief of the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service, the largest First Nations police force in Canada, said his officers are paid $7,000 less than their Treaty Three counterparts.
"At the end of the day, if you're not going to fund it properly, you're setting it up to fail," Bob Herman said.
"The government has to come to the table and say, 'If this is how we want First Nations communities to be policed in this country, then we'd better fund it appropriately."
The Nishnawbe-Aski Police board is asking the government for a $1.1 million increase to its budget. Herman said Aboriginal police services everywhere are struggling financially and Treaty Three constable Mike Bennett said he knows first-hand how that affects policing.
"You're stuck with shortages of ... police presence ... shortages of equipment [and] enormous amounts of overtime," he said.
Herman said Canada's First Nations policing program hasn't had a significant funding increase for five years.
Eli Mandamin, chief of Shoal Lake 39 First Nation and newly elected president of Treaty Three Police Services Board. Nicole Ireland/CBC
The new Treaty Three police services board chair Eli Mandamin said his priority is bringing the management and officers together.
"Once we do the orientation and the transition that has to happen, then we're open to start making some time for the union, the police officers, the police chief and whomever else we have to sit with," said the chief of Shoal Lake 39 First Nation.
Mandamin said the new board will begin work on Thursday.
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Full house for Treaty 3 police AGM
Written by Brenden Harris on Tuesday, 23 July 2013
Protesters outside the Best Western Lakeside Inn
Treaty 3 chiefs, police officers and residents were crowded at the Best Western Lakeside Inn, for the Treaty 3 Police Service annual general meeting. While the meeting took place, just down the hall supporters of the police service held a rally. Const. Mike Bennett was attending the rally, and said it was great to see so many people come out to support their cause.
"It shows that we care as officers and as First Nations community members. It shows that we care about our First Nations policing. Community policing is what we want, and what we fight for," he said.
Although the Treaty 3 police meeting was held in a room across the building from the rally, the songs of the protesters could still be heard during the presentations. Two empty chairs were set up at the front of the room, bearing signs that read "federal government" and "provincial government".
After the opening ceremonies, Grand Chief Warren White addressed the crowd. He said he had spoken with Premier Kathleen Wynne, but has yet to see anything done after the meeting.
"I've had the opportunity to meet with the premier on this very issue, but to no avail. The governments keep pointing the finger at each other," he said.
Treaty 3 Grand Chief Warren White
White says a lack of government funding is a problem in most of their communities, for all aspects. He said no amount of lobbying would help the situation.
"When you have a majority government that simply doesn't have to listen, they continue to pass their bills because of the majority. No matter how hard our people protest, no matter how hard our chiefs speak to government, they're still going to go forward," he said.
Police services board Chair and Naicatchewenin First Nation chief Wayne Smith also noted that it was up to more than just the board members to save the police service.
"On behalf of our board, we have no desire, we're not in support of closing the police service. That was never our intent, and it still isn't. At the end of the day, it isn't up to the board to make that decision. We have done all we can to address the issues that need to be addressed. There's other players that need to come to the table and make this thing work," he said.
Smith also noted it was frustrating to see the officers participating in rallies while on duty. He also says they've seen issues with officers spreading false information regarding hiring practices and called the incidents a smear campaign.
After the initial comments, the police service's financial report was presented. It showed a loss of $639,507 during the year, which ended on March 31. It also showed that the police service's liabilities exceeded it's assets by $1,108,300. Of the Treaty 3 police service's expenditures of more than $14.5 million, more than $10.1 million went to salaries and benefits.
Residents were also given the chance to ask questions and make comments during the meeting. First Nations chiefs, elders and concerned citizens took the opportunity to address the police services financial situation. Shoal Lake 39 chief Eli Mandamin called for members of the board to sit down with those concerned, in order to outline the full situation. He says at this point, there's too little communication surrounding the issue.
Chief Eli Mandamin
"I have serious questions when there's no communication to let me know, even just as a chief," he said, noting he was also interested as a father of a Treaty 3 officer.
Others questioned the board spending and were calling for a review of the financial situation. Tania Cameron presented a petition to the board, asking for the layoff notice to be rescinded, and a full financial review of the board's finances. Cameron said she was not accusing the board of mismanaging their finances, but said they should be more transparent.
"I've never gone on record to say I'm accusing anyone. I have made a joke, and I've put it out there that I had heard my kids talking and my ten year old son said to my daughter 'I'm not calling you a liar, but I'm not calling you a truther, either.' We need to know the whole truth, that's plain and simple," she said.
While many continued to look for full financial disclosure, police chief Conrad Delaronde said everyone needs to be on the same side, when it comes to the fight to save the service.
Treaty 3 Police Chief Conrad Delaronde
"It's not the chief's fault. It's not the officer's fault. It's not the committee's fault. It's the federal government. When we understand that collectively, only then can we move forward. Right now we're not going to stop fighting. These challenges, I knew that they were going to happen two years ago. I started writing to the government then. It's been falling on deaf ears," he said.
He also says the board would be willing to sit down and speak with the union, but the conversation could only move forward if both sides were willing to compromise.
Officers received layoff notices July 4. If there's no resolution, their last day of work will be in mid-August. Board members have said in a letter to the officers that the transfer to OPP policing is already in the works. Treaty 3 Police Service took over jurisdiction from the OPP at a ceremony in Kenora 10 years ago.
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Treaty 3 police set up for failure, MPP
Written by Mike Aiken on Monday, 15 July 2013
Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell addresses the legislature at Queen's Park.
(File photo)
Opposition MPP Sarah Campbell says provincial and federal governments need to take another look at First Nations policing.
"There needs to be adequate and equitable funding. First Nations policing needs to be recognized by the federal and provincial governments as an essential service, not just a program. Until this happens, we're not going to have a permanent solution in place," she says.
"We're talking about people who are hired to do a job that is no less dangerous and no less important than OPP officers, yet they aren't being paid at the same rate and they don't have access to the same safety equipment or infrastructure," she continued.
She emphasized aboriginal police services can be cancelled at the whim of any government, at any time. Her comments come as the clock is ticking towards the disbandment of the Treaty 3 police service. Officers were given layoff notices effective next month, related to financial shortfalls.
For more information:
Treaty 3 management responds
Rafferty hopes to have mediator appointed
Media release from Treaty 3 Police Service
Treaty 3 police officers given notice
Treaty 3 police union fights closure
MP responds to Treaty 3 funding
Discussing the future of Treaty 3 police
Treaty 3 police supports making plans
No guaranteed position for Treaty 3 officers
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Possible end to First Nations policing raises outcry
Northwestern Ontario residents rally to save Treaty Three Police force
Jul 23, 2013
(Richard Oldfield/policecanada.org)
The challenges facing Aboriginal police forces across Canada are playing out in a northern Ontario city today.
First Nations chiefs are gathering in Kenora to talk about the future of policing in the Treaty Three area of northwestern Ontario and eastern Manitoba. The police board says it can't afford to pay its officers and is planning to shut down.
Sharon DeSousa speaks for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing Treaty Three Police officers. (Supplied)
The Treaty Three Police Service is responsible for law enforcement in more than two dozen First Nation communities.
It says it doesn't want to fold, but government underfunding makes it impossible to pay a wage equal to the Ontario Provincial Police - a gain the First Nations officers won in their most recent collective agreement.
"The fact that they were paid lower was a form of discrimination," said Sharon DeSousa, who speaks for the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing the officers.
DeSousa said negotiations with the Treaty Three Police Services Board have broken down.
"What we really would like to do is have the police board rescind their decision to close the doors."
But the board said it has no choice if the union doesn't budge.
The Best Western in Kenora where the Treaty Three Police Services Board annual general meeting will take place on Tuesday. A rally by community members concerned about the possible end of the Treaty Three Police Service is expected to happen outside. (Nicole Ireland/CBC)
Desousa said police officers and concerned community members will rally at the board's annual general meeting in Kenora on Tuesday morning, and call for talks to resume under a mediator.
"Right now we want to make sure that First Nation policing continues and that the police service that's being used is culturally appropriate," she said. "And I can tell by the community outcry that they want the same goal as well."
The chief of Nigigoonsiminkanning First Nation - and a new member of the board - said he believes the Treaty Three police force can still be saved.
"The police officers need to be ... exposed to the ... negotiations that ... go on with the federal government," Gary Allen said.
Aboriginal policing is a critical service, Allen noted, and the government must step up funding so First Nations officers are paid the same as their non-Aboriginal colleagues.
"Our employees continue to be marginalized, even though they graduate from the same institutions as mainstream Canadians," he said.
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