Toronto Star: In the early morning hours of Sept. 4, Saskatchewan RCMP received a call reporting a stabbing on the James Smith Cree Nation. Three minutes later, two officers were dispatched to the scene. In most communities, that response could be quick enough to save some lives. But since the officers had to travel 45 kilometres from Melfort, they didn’t arrive until 38 minutes after first being notified of the stabbing.

In the intervening period, the RCMP received another call concerning two people injured in another location. Police arrived there 33 minutes after receiving the call.

As we all now know, 10 people, not including the suspect and his brother, were ultimately killed, with another 18 injured. And while we don’t know if the delayed arrival of officers contributed to the death toll, one thing seems certain: The stabbing spree could likely have been stopped far sooner if policing on First Nations land were considered an essential service — a service deemed critical to the lives and health of the people.

For people in most parts of the country, it’s unfathomable to think of the police as anything other than essential. People have come to expect the police to arrive within minutes of being called, and to apprehend suspects nearly as quickly.

Yet on Indigenous lands, especially vast, rural areas, the wait time for police to arrive during an emergency can stretch to an hour or more — which raises the question of whether emergency services even exist in some parts of the country. Some Indigenous communities do employ Indigenous police services which can respond much more quickly than remote RCMP detachments. But since Indigenous police aren’t considered an essential service, they’ve experienced chronic underfunding, leading to high turnover of personnel and dwindling numbers of Indigenous forces.

In fact, this past January, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found the federal government in violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act by providing insufficient funding and a subpar level of policing to an Indigenous community in Quebec.

This subpar policing has profound consequences that go far beyond a violation of human rights legislation. According to Public Safety Canada’s 2022 evaluation of the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), violent crime was almost nine times higher in Indigenous communities than elsewhere in 2018.

And in contrast to trends outside aboriginal lands, crime in Indigenous communities increased between 2004 and 2018: Crime rose by 3.5 per cent in FNIPP communities, compared to a corresponding reduction of 28.5 per cent elsewhere, while Indigenous communities experienced a 31.9 increase in violent crime, compared to a decrease of 15.5 per cent.

The federal government has responded to this evidence by increasing funding for Indigenous policing. But ultimately, the only way to ensure Indigenous communities receive equal policing now and in the future is to ensure, through legislative action, that Indigenous police are designated an essential service.

A recent Public Safety department discussion paper noted the potential benefits of such a designation. “Recognizing First Nations police services as an essential service through legislation would underscore that these services are indispensable for community safety and security, and need to be adequately resourced to provide culturally responsive policing services,” it stated.

For some time now, the feds have been working together with Indigenous communities on making that legislation a reality, and have thus far held 13 virtual engagement sessions on the issue. But the Saskatchewan tragedy has renewed calls to accelerate the process, with Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino remarking that “we need to really redouble our efforts.”

Indeed, on Friday’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, much will be said about how colonialism and its legacy of systemic discrimination, including discrimination in policing, has harmed Canada’s Indigenous people. But words are not enough. Certainly, we can and should speak the truth. Yet reconciliation requires action — action to ensure Indigenous communities receive equal treatment in policing. And the time for action is now.

Reconciliation requires action — action to ensure Indigenous communities receive equal treatment in policing