Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) is calling for fast action to increase policing following a rise in violence, gang activity, drugs, and emergency response times.
The council will meet for the next two days to discuss the factors putting more pressure on policing and their demands for change.
“We have to talk to the governments. The governments have to come to the table with us,” said MLTC Chief Jeremy Norman.
MLTC is calling for local police detachments with holding cells, more police presence, and for it to be led by First Nations.
“The lack of police presence is directly contributing to serious injuries and deaths in our community,” says Norman.
Many nations are saying it’s taking longer and longer for police to respond. In some cases the wait time is over an hour and communities have begun resorting to policing themselves.
“I myself get threatening texts as a chief because we’re doing evictions. We are evicting people out of houses that are druggies, that are gang members. We’re boarding them up and giving them to families that need them,” said Canoe Lake Cree First Nation Chief Francis Iron.
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Estimates for private security bills are racking up to more than $1 million in the last year alone. They are hoping the new force would be fully funded by the FSIN.
“These dollars could have been better spent on rec activities for our kids, housing for our communities, more programs for addictions, but instead we’re spending that money on prevention,” said Williams Lake First Nation Chief Blaine Fiddler.
MLTC wants the situation to change now, even if that does not mean an independent police force.
The Prince Albert Grand Council has been in the development process of their own Indigenous-led police force for close to a decade.
“We’re looking for a fix today. We’re not looking for a fix in 10 years,” said Maskwacis Cree Tribal Council Vice-Chief Richard Deocher.
Policing is the tip of the iceberg of issues MLTC is determined to deal with soon.
“All these issues are stemmed from some sort of addiction, some sort of trauma, from some sort of mental wellness illness. Let’s get to the root of these problems,” says Deocher.
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