Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde said “The only way to overcome racism in Canada’s policing agencies is to impose systemic change and a zero-tolerance policy aimed at eliminating the excessive use of force”. The killings of two Indigenous people in New Brunswick – 26 year-old Chantal Moore in Edmundston during a “wellness check” and Rodney Levi near the Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation – has raised questions about excessive use of force when it comes to Indigenous people that too often results in death.

The shootings have prompted calls for a separate, independent inquiry and an overhaul of policing in the province, where the minister of Aboriginal affairs has already said there is a problem with systemic racism. As well, the shootings have become part of a broader international discussion about police brutality and racism