NationTalk: ANISHINAABE AND DAKOTA TERRITORY, MB — The Southern Chiefs’ Organization (SCO) is speaking up for First Nations people as the Winnipeg Police Board recruits a new Chief of Police. Over its 150 years of history, racism and brutal treatment of First Nation citizens have been at the cultural core of the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS).

“We are no longer surprised when police harass, belittle, and abuse our First Nation citizens, acting with complete disregard, because it happens so often and has gone on for 150 years,”said SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels.“Racism continues to exist in the service, and is in fact woven into its culture, even as promises of reconciliation have been made. It’s time to live up to those promises.”

In 2024, a serial killer was convicted for taking the lives of four sacred women, Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe. There was an opportunity for Winnipeg’s Chief of Police to demonstrate that the service is on the path of reconciliation by taking the emergency of MMIWG2S+ seriously. Instead, former Police Chief Danny Smyth refused to search the Prairie Green Landfill where two of our sisters are believed to be.

Grand Chief Jerry Daniels has written to Police Board Chair and City Councillor Markus Chambers expressing his expectation that the selection of the new police chief be transparent, including the make-up of any decision-making panel and that there is representation from southern First Nation citizens.

The results of SCO’s First Nation Experiences of Racism in Policing Survey are staggering, but sadly not unexpected given the history of systemic racism in the police force.

• 70% of respondents had experienced racism in policing firsthand.
• 66% of respondents actively avoided seeking help from police when they needed help because of that treatment.
• 59% of respondents report their trust in Manitoba society, in general, has been affected by their interactions with police.

“There is no doubt that the attitude and actions of Winnipeg police continue to cause harm and mistrust, and that this has a significant impact on reconciliation as a whole,” continued Grand Chief Daniels. “If the police board is serious about reconciliation and rooting out racism, it will find a candidate with lived experience who will have the strength to stand up and say ‘No More’.”

The board must hire a candidate who will lead with the conviction to do better, a genuine understanding of the historic and current damage the WPS has done to First Nation citizens, and a willingness to address urgently needed culture change within the police force.

The Southern Chiefs’ Organization represents 33 First Nations and more than 87,000 citizens in what is now called southern Manitoba. SCO is an independent political organization that protects, preserves, promotes, and enhances First Nations peoples’ inherent rights, languages, customs, and traditions through the application and implementation of the spirit and intent of the Treaty-making process