The House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs met on October 20, 2025, to study First Nations and Inuit policing and public safety. Witnesses included Doris Bill, former Chief of Kwanlin Dün First Nation; Regional Chief Abram Benedict of the Chiefs of Ontario; Captain Robert Durant of the Sûreté du Québec; National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak of the Assembly of First Nations; Chief Francis Verreault-Paul of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador; and Julie McGregor, Chief of Staff of the Assembly of First Nations.
Doris Bill described how her community created a community safety officer (CSO) program after a crisis of violence and distrust of the RCMP, rooted in residential school trauma. The CSOs are proactive, culturally appropriate, and not focused on enforcement, acting as a conduit to other agencies and rebuilding trust with police. She urged stable, equitable legislative support for such community-born initiatives, noting the program has been replicated across the Yukon and internationally.
Regional Chief Abram Benedict highlighted an urgent crisis of gang violence and drug trafficking in Ontario First Nations, citing a 300% increase in cocaine and fentanyl seizures in Nishnawbe Aski Nation territory. He criticized the federal First Nations and Inuit Policing Program as mismanaged and underfunded, noting that $13 million went unspent in 2022-23, and called for essential-service legislation that recognizes First Nations jurisdiction over policing. He stressed that communities must determine their own policing models, whether under provincial legislation or other arrangements.
Captain Robert Durant presented the joint indigenous community police station (PPCMA) in Val-d’Or, which pairs police officers with social workers to address vulnerable populations upstream, reducing reliance on the justice system. The model has expanded to five other Quebec municipalities, but he noted difficulty recruiting Indigenous officers due to resource shortages and bureaucratic barriers. He described training programs for police on interacting with Indigenous peoples and mental health crisis de-escalation.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak criticized the lack of a First Nations-specific carve-out in a recent $1.8-billion RCMP hiring announcement and noted that 32 of 36 First Nations police services are in litigation for equitable funding. She called for a whole-of-government approach addressing housing, education, and infrastructure gaps, and urged the committee to ensure First Nations are included in federal-provincial-territorial decisions. She affirmed that the Assembly of First Nations still opposes Bill C-21, which she said criminalizes long guns used for sustenance hunting.
Chief Francis Verreault-Paul recommended that the government introduce co-developed legislation recognizing First Nations policing as an essential service, grounded in self-determination. He highlighted funding inequities, with per-officer costs for the Sûreté du Québec rising faster than for Indigenous services, and noted that training costs are exponentially higher for Indigenous candidates, with language barriers in Quebec hindering English-speaking communities. He called for a tripartite table involving federal, provincial, and First Nations governments.
Julie McGregor emphasized that First Nations policing must be legislated as an essential service, not left as a discretionary program, to ensure stable funding and growth. She noted that First Nations police services are often poached by larger forces due to lower pay and limited career prospects, leading to burnout and high turnover. She stressed the importance of wraparound services, including housing, mental health, and addictions support, to address root causes of crime and overrepresentation in the justice system.
The committee also heard questions about bail reform, with witnesses noting that offenders are often released quickly, undermining community safety. There was no procedural debate, motions, or votes recorded during this meeting.
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