Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare Voices Concern Over the Lack of Inclusion of First Nations Law Enforcement Under the New Community Safety and Policing Act

NationTalk: Toronto, ON – Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare issued the following statement regarding Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General’s decision to proceed towards finalizing their regulations under the new Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (CSPA) with the posting of draft regulations without including the enforcement of First Nations laws as a mandatory policing function:

“After five years of extensive engagements and bilateral discussions with First Nations and First Nations organizations across the Ontario region, the Ministry of Solicitor General (SOLGEN) has decided to proceed into the final stages of their regulatory development process without including this priority,” said Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare. “During these engagements and discussions, SOLGEN heard time and time again that their new policing act must include the enforcement of First Nations laws as a mandatory policing function, and the sheer lack of reference to these critical conversations is not only concerning but is outright disrespectful to First Nations.”

“We are deeply concerned that proceeding in this manner is a loud signal from Ontario that First Nations’ expressed priorities regarding community safety are something to dismiss. This urgent issue of community safety is consistently deferred, and First Nations have had to jump through countless hoops to explain and justify why our laws are critical.”

Without this regulation in place, First Nations police will not receive the guaranteed funding to support these enforcement activities, and our communities will continue to be without the rule of law guaranteed to all other Ontarians. This is discrimination, and First Nations must have equal access to justice.

“After five years, countless meetings, letters, forums, discussions, we thought Ontario had heard us,” added Regional Deputy Grand Council Chief Travis Boissoneau, “They sat with us and heard about the lives lost because our laws are not being enforced. However, with the public posting of these regulations, SOLGEN has sent a loud message to our people: the needs and safety of First Nations can be delayed and disregarded. We have followed the process and have provided solutions that can work for all parties. We are talking about the safety of our children and we are being ignored.”

The Government of Ontario knows that the enforcement gap is a crisis in First Nations across the Ontario region and that our police are chronically underfunded. Without enforcement of our laws, we cannot keep dangerous offenders, trespassers, and illegal intoxicants out of our Nations. We are advocating for a safer, stronger Ontario. No area in Canada should be devoid of law. First Nations should not have to plead for the fundamental and already guaranteed protections under law to all other Ontarians.

“We call on the Ministry of the Solicitor General to do the right thing. With the regulations still in the process of finalization, we are calling on you to add the enforcement of First Nations laws as a mandatory policing function. Nowhere else in this country does this carve-out exist. Never under Ontario law has this exclusion been expressed in legislation. The enforcement of First Nations laws is just as important as the enforcement of other federal and provincial laws that police are required to carry out under the CSPA.

A lack of enforcement has proven to lead to real consequences in our communities. These consequences show in the form of being unable to keep our children safe from dangerous individuals and illegal drugs or stopping illegal dumping on our lands. The government’s denial of these fundamental parts of community safety and well-being must cease immediately. In an era of reconciliation, these kinds of decisions only further compromise our communities, our citizens, and our police officer safety, security, and well-being. This is an unacceptable action from the Government of Ontario and only distances the path toward reconciliation.

By making this amendment to the regulations, we can close the enforcement gap, do significant good, and advance our mutual goals of safe and healthy communities and peoples.”

Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare (Gwiingos)

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The Chiefs of Ontario support all First Nations in Ontario as they assert their sovereignty, jurisdiction and their chosen expression of nationhood. Follow Chiefs of Ontario on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @ChiefsOfOntario.

Media Contact:

Christopher Hoyos
Director of Policy and Communications
Policy and Communications Sector
Chiefs of Ontario
Telephone: (416) 579 4998
Email: Chris.Hoyos@coo.org