Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on May 25th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I call this meeting to order, acknowledging first of all that in Ottawa we're meeting on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on April 29, 2021, the committee is continuing its study of enforcement on first nations reserves.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I will go through some best practices.

Participants, you may speak and listen in the official language of your choice. At the bottom of your screen, on the globe icon, you can select “Floor”, “English” or “French”. As you present your testimony or answer questions, you can switch languages without having to touch that button again. When speaking, ensure that your video is on. Please speak slowly and clearly. When not speaking, your mike should be on mute.

Pursuant to the motion adopted on March 9, 2021, I must inform the committee that as of 8 a.m. this morning, Robert Louie, Michael Anderson, Leroy Denny and Doris Bill had not completed the technical pretest.

With us today for just under two hours by video conference are the following witnesses: Robert Louie, chairman, First Nations Lands Advisory Board; Chief Heidi Cook and Andrew Beynon, director, First Nations Land Management Resource Centre; Chief Leroy Denny, Eskasoni First Nation; Chief Doris Bill, Kwanlin Dün First Nation; and Chief Garrison Settee and Michael Anderson, policing and public safety adviser, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc.

I am informed that Chief Louie and Chief Cook are appearing jointly and will be splitting their six-minute opening statement time. Accordingly, we will begin with them and go on through the rest of our witnesses.

Chief Louie, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Chief Robert Louie, Chairman, First Nations Lands Advisory Board]

Good day, Mr. Chair and honourable committee members.

I am Robert Louie, chairman of the Lands Advisory Board. My colleague is Andrew Beynon, who works in the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre. He will also be presenting.

We represent the first nations that are self-governing and pass laws under land codes. Some of our first nations have been operational with law-making powers since the turn of the 2000 millennium on January 1, 2000.

We have a serious problem with enforcement and recognition of land code law enforcement by the courts, RCMP and policing authorities. Law-making and self-determination is meaningless without enforcement. Currently, there is a gap. We urge this committee to recommend immediate federal action to resolve these enforcement issues.

The most important message to this committee is the need to solve the crisis in enforcement of first nation laws now, this year—not next year or years later, but now.

This committee has heard about complexity, risks, funding, resourcing, federal-provincial considerations and the need to build partnerships. The focus must turn to answers instead of questions. We urge this committee to sound the alarm by pointing out how much damage is being caused by the failure to enforce first nation laws.

First nations are suffering harm because trespassing, family violence, illegal dumping, violations of COVID-19 restrictions and other offences are occurring right now, and there is no clear enforcement in place. Chief Rempel of K'ómoks First Nation spoke with this committee about the challenges she has faced in dealing with trespassers. Other land code first nations have had to deal with similar trespassing problems, including alleged drug dealers, bikers, homeless encampments and residents of trailers without proper water and sewage hookups. Many land code first nations have faced challenges with illegal dumping and difficulty controlling some environmentally harmful businesses on reserve. The Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management has included matrimonial and real property provisions for decades, but there are major and risky gaps in the enforcement system intended to protect spouses and children.

Land code first nations have tried to control the COVID-19 pandemic on their lands. There has been nothing but failure on this front, with federal and RCMP officials suggesting that old colonial Indian Act bylaws should be used rather than land code authority. Federal officials do not seem to understand that many first nations consider the Indian Act offensive. Land code first nations are past the bylaw phase of the Indian Act. Land code laws are passed by the first nation, not bylaws under the jurisdiction and legislation of the Indian Act.

The crisis in enforcement of first nation laws has consequences for all Canadians. The cost to clean up environmental damage is far more than prevention. Family violence has social costs far beyond individual families. Well-regulated communities contribute to economic prosperity.

We urge this committee to call for a more serious and focused federal report. This committee has heard from five federal agencies. Who has the lead role in the federal bureaucracy for solving the enforcement of the first nation laws crisis? There is a circular firing squad of inaction in the bureaucracy. Questions such as these are asked: What is the source of authority for police officers? What about risk of liability? Too often, the bureaucracy has stopped at questions without driving to answers.

We recommend the appointment of a special federal adviser to help lead the bureaucracy and report to this committee within the next six months. Canada's guidelines for enforcement of Indian Act COVID-19 bylaws excluded the framework agreement and self-government. In our view, this has accidentally sent a perverse message that only the colonial Indian Act works.

We urge this committee to call for federal-provincial solutions. We are seeking to prosecute offences in the provincial courts. The committee should call on federal experts to advise within the next six months on what is needed to unlock provincial co-operation. Federal-provincial discussions will inevitably raise funding concerns, but this should not delay figuring out how to make this work.

Federal funding for land code first nations has increased over the years, but there is still not enough funding to support an adequate enforcement system comparable to other governments in Canada. Funding for enforcement of land code laws should be looked at and increased. Land code first nations understand federal and provincial concerns over resources and funding. We also want an effective and low-cost system and we will work hard to achieve that.

In conclusion, several land code first nations are pursuing pilot projects that we hope will be major successes in the near future. Committee members may be interested in registering at www.indigenousenforcement.com for tomorrow's May 26 discussion of a pilot project led by the Muskoday and Whitecap First Nations in Saskatchewan.

Thank you for your consideration, honourable committee. I will be pleased to answer any questions the committee will have at your leisure.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thanks so much, Chief.

Chief Cook, were you going to add on to Chief Louie's presentation?

[Chief Heidi Cook, Misipawistik Cree Nation, First Nations Land Management Resource Centre]

Good morning. I apologize. There was a mix-up on the time zone.

Thanks for the invitation—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

I'm sorry, Chief; I don't think we can hear properly.

Mr. Clerk, do we have a technical issue with Chief Cook?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Naaman Sugrue]

I'll have some people get in touch to make sure that the device is set up, but we won't be able to proceed with the audio as is.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Chief Cook, we'll get you sorted out, and in the meantime we'll move on to Chief Leroy Denny for six minutes.

Chief, go ahead for six minutes.

[Chief Leroy Daniel Denny, Eskasoni First Nation, Eskasoni Band Council]

Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you here from the Eskasoni First Nation community. It's a sunny day here in the beautiful territory of Unama'ki, located on the east coast of Canada. Eskasoni is the largest Mi'kmaq community, with a population of almost 4,700 people.

My name is Chief Leroy Denny, and I am the chief of the community of Eskasoni. I thank you for the invitation to appear before your committee on the motion to study enforcement on first nation reserves.

I was born and raised in Eskasoni, here in my community. My grandfather was also chief of my community. Also, my godfather was a Vietnam vet and a police chief for Eskasoni for many years, and one of the key people who started a police department, the Unama'ki Tribal Police, which I'm going to talk about.

I'm here to address the current policing practices and enforcement in first nation communities.

There is no denying that the impacts of colonialism continue to reverberate in all of our indigenous communities across the country. The costs of policing on reserve remain a source of conflict requiring resolution. Canada's position to hold policing on reserve as a joint responsibility with the provinces has created a jurisdictional confusion that results in inefficient and under-resourced policing, and our community members are the ones who suffer at the end of the day. A special constable program continued on the first nation communities throughout Nova Scotia in the seventies, a program that was underfunded and under-resourced. Since this time, because of these issues, the Mi'kmaq lobby for control over policing in their communities.

As a response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Donald Marshall inquiry, the Unama'ki Tribal Police was created in 1994, under the umbrella of the federal first nation policing policy, to provide policing to all five Mi'kmaq communities in Cape Breton, which are Eskasoni, Membertou, Potlotek, Wh'koqma'q and Wagmatcook. I was formerly a employee as a jail guard, and also as a part-time dispatcher at the time, which was one of my first jobs when I was really young.

Attaining control over our policing was a key component in achieving self-determination and enhancing control of enforcement in our communities. This was a decolonized method of offering police services. In it, cultural methodology was used and implemented in community police methods to resolve problems and promote community healing and trust, using our language. In the late nineties and early 2000s, this essential program was defunded, and the RCMP established the Community Aboriginal Diversity Policing Service to serve first nation communities.

Presently, we have RCMP serving our community. I commend their efforts in policing our community, because we have some Mi'kmaq police who are on the force. My own brother served both in the Unama'ki police and the RCMP for our community, and he retired a couple of months ago.

However, as a leader and a community member, I cannot help but see the injustices that we continue to face, not only in becoming self-determined but also in our health and safety on reserve.

When the global pandemic hit last year, there was a directive that the police in indigenous communities and the judiciary would assist indigenous communities to enforce their COVID bylaws, which are the lockdowns we have. However, the reality was not this. What happened was that they didn't respect our bylaws. We had our own curfews, our own lockdowns, and they weren't respected. We had our own restrictions, and we had issues with the police. I ended up calling my MP, to the top office, to make sure our bylaws were respected, but it was very difficult for us for our security and to make sure that the lockdown to keep COVID out was respected.

This issue also hinders our ability to enforce laws made on reserve. Bylaws are not respected and are not honoured by current policing authorities. It makes becoming self-determined within our communities difficult. It was very difficult.

Before I end my submission to the committee today, I would like to discuss the issue of health and safety on reserve in policing. Due to personal experience, I can attest to the issue we face regarding this issue.

At the end of February, February 28, one of my directors, the CEO for Crane Cove Seafoods, was shot. He's my neighbour and also my family member, my first cousin. He was shot next door. To this day, we don't know who shot him.

The first person he called was me because I was next door, down the road. He called me, and I called 911. There was a sound of distress on the phone. He had been shot; there had been two shots.

My family and I all heard gunshots here. I was on 911 for at least a good four minutes. When I got there, 911 told me not to go in, but my family member was in distress, so I had to go in. It had already been 10 minutes, and we were still waiting for the police and still waiting for the paramedics. I had to go in. God knows, I didn't know if there was a shooter there, but I had to sacrifice my own life to save my family member.

After 20 minutes, I had to take him to my vehicle and drive him to the ambulance station. There were no police yet. To this day, I don't know why. I'm still dealing with the trauma. There was a lot of blood I had to deal with. Luckily, he survived. He's recovering.

After 30 minutes—I counted the minutes when I made my statement—the police ended up going to the house to start an investigation. It was poorly done.

He relied on the police and the paramedics. He relied on me. I was the first person to get there. I took him to the ambulance. That shouldn't be. Community members shouldn't be doing that, saving lives in the line of fire. It's the police. We rely on our police and we trust them. That's in the agreements. I shouldn't be doing it; it should be them. I still have a lot of questions about that, and it's not the end of it.

I'll end right there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thanks, Chief. Thank you very much for your testimony.

I will go to Chief Doris Bill from Kwanlin Dün First Nation.

Please go ahead.

[Chief Doris Bill, Kwanlin Dün First Nation]

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for the invitation to be part of this important conversation. I hope you are all well.

My name is Doris Bill and I am chief of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation. We are a self-governing first nation, an urban first nation. Our traditional territory is located in and around the city of Whitehorse, Yukon.

We settled our self-government and final agreements 16 years ago, in 2005. These modern treaties empower us to manage our settlement lands, to enact legislation and to make our own decisions in the best interests of our citizens—to be self-determining.

I am here today to share some information about our first nation and our journey to create a collaborative, community-driven approach to addressing safety, support and enforcement in our traditional territory.

Many indigenous people and indigenous communities in Canada have a complicated relationship with the RCMP. Our first nation is no different. History has made it difficult to trust. People sometimes need to be reminded that the police were involved in the trauma that came with residential schools, the sixties scoop and the forced relocation of our people. These events are still a part of our people's living memory, and that trauma continues to be passed down through generations.

We cannot change the past, but we can look forward to a brighter future, one in which we can work together for mutual benefit.

I do not support recent calls to defund policing services. Here at home I am sure our police department could use additional resources. In some cases, increased demands and inadequate resources have had a trickle-down effect, especially as this relates to prioritized calls and response times. At one point, citizens reported that at times it would take an hour or more for officers to show up, and there were occasions when no officers attended at all.

To provide some insight into where I am coming from, as a former journalist I am aware of the crime in our area. However, the reality of the situation truly hit home when there were two murders in our community shortly after I was elected in 2014. These tragedies struck at the very core of our people, and they were a catalyst for change.

The first step towards healing is to admit that there is a problem. In our case, we chose to listen, learn from one another and put what we heard into action. Through many discussions, we learned of numerous break-ins and other crimes in our area. We saw that most of the violent crimes were committed by people who didn't belong in our community. We heard from single moms who were sleeping with baseball bats beside their beds, from elders who didn't feel safe going out for a walk, from citizens concerned with bootlegging and drug houses and from parents wanting reassurance that their children would be safe playing outside in the neighbourhood.

Together, under the community's direction, we created a comprehensive community safety plan; established an inter-agency working group of partners, including the RCMP, bylaw services, SCAN, Public Safety and Investigations and the Correctional Service of Canada; and built an innovative community safety officer, or CSO, program, which launched in 2016. It is the CSO program that I wish to highlight today.

The program is centred on the concept that the safety, health and well-being of Kwanlin Dün citizens would be significantly enhanced through the intensive and consistent presence of safety officers who come from the community itself. Therefore, all of the four full-time and two on-call CSOs who work on our lands are citizens or have a strong connection to the community.

CSOs help mediate disputes, they provide safe rides to safe places, and they connect citizens to other services, such as the RCMP, family and child supports, and legal services when needed.

They patrol our streets. They are visible and they are known. They do not replace the RCMP or any other service in our community. We understand the value and need for policing and bylaw services and other government services from partner organizations, but the CSOs help to bridge the gap between our citizens and those necessary services, and they help our citizens to achieve better outcomes from their interactions with those services. In fact, it is the strength of our partnerships that make this program possible and successful. The support we receive from the Yukon government, Canada and the RCMP is essential, and we have seen that it is working. Kwanlin Dün is proud of this program and how citizens and elders report feeling safer with the CSOs on patrol. We see fewer calls to the RCMP; as a result, they can focus on dealing with the things they really should be dealing with.

We remain committed to the process of building community-driven, culturally relevant services for our citizens.

Another step forward came last summer when we signed a historic letter of expectation with the RCMP. It promotes positive and co-operative relationships and defines policing priorities, goals and strategies that are specific to the needs of Kwanlin Dün. I won't say it has been an easy process, but it has been extremely rewarding for our community as a whole. Ultimately, it is about choosing a path forward where strong partnerships allow us to create and steer the kind of policing we know we need in our community.

I think we can agree that together we can bring about change.

Shä`w níthän, gùnálchîsh, mähsi'cho and thank you. I welcome your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much, Chief Bill.

We'll go to Chief Settee and Michael Anderson together.

Chief Garrison Settee, you have six minutes. Go ahead, please.

[Grand Chief Garrison Settee, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc.]

Tansi, boozhoo, edlanet'e.

On behalf of the 26 MKO first nations nations under our administration and at least 73,000 people, I am pleased to have the opportunity to share with the committee some of MKO's views on enforcement on first nations reserves.

I will also be making a few references to the MKO book of documents that MKO has provided to assist the committee.

With the help of Mike Anderson, MKO has seven key points.

First, Indian Act bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act are federal regulations under section 2 of the Interpretation Act, subsection 2(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act and subsection 7(l) of the Statutory Instruments Regulations. The B.C. Court of Appeal has confirmed this at paragraph 12 of its 1987 decision in R. v. Jimmy.

Second, and most fundamentally, Canada has failed in its duty to enforce and prosecute these valid laws of Canada. First Nation bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act have not been enforced by policing authorities or prosecuted for 25 years in Manitoba. This is a quarter of a century.

The protocol relating to the enforcement and prosecution of bylaws adopted pursuant to sections 81 and 85.1 of the Indian Act, mentioned by government witnesses before this committee, confirms that the Indian Act bylaws are not being enforced or prosecuted in Manitoba. Except for the 11 very recent protocol agreements, this has been the case across Canada.

Particularly in remote first nations communities served by periodic RCMP patrols, communities are in crisis due to the uncontrolled bootlegging and drug dealing fuelled by long-term non-enforcement of section 85.1 bylaws.

Communities are also unable to see or ensure that COVID-related emergency measures are being enforced by police and that charges are being laid and offences are being prosecuted. There is no deterrence, and compliance is undermined.

Third, we are making some important progress after a concerted months-long campaign carried out jointly with the First Nations Lands Advisory Board, the Land Management Resource Centre and the Manitoba Public Interest Law Centre.

MKO has been working with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the commanding officer of RCMP D Division to develop and support operationalizing a protocol that can be applied by all 26 first nations in our territory. The protocol applies only to the enforcement and prosecution of Indian Act bylaws in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the protocol is not a long-term fix of enforcement and prosecution issues.

The Manitoba Department of Justice very recently committed to adopting an MKO recommendation to revise the 2021-22 first nation safety officer programming. These amendments will include a recognition that FNSOs have peace officer powers when enforcing all subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 Indian Act bylaws. These revisions to the FNSO operating agreements are important to clarify the powers of FNSOs when enforcing COVID-19-related bylaws under the protocol.

Mr. Anderson will continue.

[Michael Anderson, Policing and Public Safety Advisor, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc.]

Fourth, although we've made some progress regarding the recognition, respect, enforcement and prosecution of band bylaws, First Nations Land Management Act laws have not been enforced by policing authorities or prosecuted by Crown prosecutors for 20 years, since the coming into force of Bill C-49 in 1999.

As to the enforcement of land code emergency laws, the RCMP says, “The RCMP recognizes First Nations' authority under the FNLMA. However, there are concerns as to whether the FNLMA Land Codes provide the legal authority to enact COVID-19 related laws.” Please see page 13 of our documents.

ISC says, “I appreciate the frustration felt by First Nations who have taken on such fundamental aspects of their governance through the enactment of a Land Code, only to be forced to rely on Indian Act authorities”. Please see the MKO's book of documents, page 16.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says the role of PPSC set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions Act is inapplicable to FNLMA land codes and FNLMA first nation laws.

Fifth, there's a harmful uncertainty related to the appointment and empowerment of first nation safety officers to act as peace officers. Simply put, you have to be a peace officer to stop, search, seize and detain, and you need those four powers in order to effectively enforce first nation bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act.

Sixth, PPSC and the RCMP do not accept the validity of Indian Act bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. Parliament repealed the ministerial power of disallowance and approval of Indian Act bylaws effective December 15, 2014, with the coming into force of Bill C-428. However, as PPSC witnesses have advised this committee and MKO, PPSC will not recognize the validity of bylaws enacted on or after December 16, 2014, unless reviewed by “an appropriate federal government department.”

PPSC, Indigenous Services Canada and the RCMP have each advised this committee and MKO that they will not review bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. Therefore, there is no federal department that will review existing Indian Act bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. This means that the protocol will not apply to any existing post-Bill C-428 bylaws, including the health and safety bylaws and their related health orders that have been specifically enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. PPSC's acceptance of MKO's proposal to conduct a third party review along with the Public Interest Law Centre appears to be the principal, if not the only, pathway to ensuring that the protocol will apply to the existing first nation COVID-19 emergency laws in the MKO region.

Seventh, the gaps uncovered by the COVID-19 pandemic, including those highlighted in evidence recently presented to this committee, reveal that the legislative framework, the federal civil service and policing authorities are incapable of supporting or are unwilling to support the exercise of first nations' self-determination and law-making powers enacted by Parliament through Bill C-428 and the First Nations Land Management Act.

Grand Chief Settee has a concluding comment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Well, we're at seven and a half minutes. We'll just stop it there, and hopefully more points will come out through the rounds of questioning. It's so important that we get committee members to respond to the statements.

Mr. Clerk, how is Chief Cook doing technically?

[The Clerk]

She is doing better, I hope. What I'll ask Chief Cook to do is introduce herself and say where she's testifying from. Then interpretation will let me know if we can proceed with testimony.

[Chief Heidi Cook]

Good morning. It's Chief Heidi Cook. I am in Misipawistik Cree Nation, Treaty 5.

Was that good?

[The Clerk]

I hope so, Chief Cook. I'm just going to wait for feedback. It will be just a moment.

[Chief Heidi Cook]

I see a thumbs-up.

[The Clerk]

Yes. We can proceed, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Chief Cook, thanks so much. Sorry about the technical issues, but we do want to hear your testimony.

You have six minutes. Please go ahead.

[Chief Heidi Cook]

Thank you for the invitation, Chair, on behalf of the Misipawistik Cree Nation. As I mentioned, we are signatories to Treaty No. 5.

I would like to describe our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic and our difficulties enforcing our land code law.

From the beginning of the pandemic, MCN regularly enacted measures over and above the provincial health orders. They included closing our VLTs, putting up a highway checkstop, introducing mandatory isolation for non-essential travel past city limits, and mandating hand-sanitizing stations and masks in our businesses.

At our checkpoint on Highway 6, we monitored non-essential travel into northern Manitoba. At first we benefited from the perception that the checkpoint was tied to the enforcement of provincial northern travel restrictions. In reality, our first nation safety officer had no ability to ticket anyone on the provincial highway. When people would pull off onto the reserve for gas or a break, he would provide some warnings to travellers, but the checkpoint eventually became very hard to operate. People realized it was the band doing it and not the province. We started to get a lot more dangerous driving complaints and racist insults directed towards our workers. Eventually we just had to take it down.

We enacted our first public health order on October 20, 2020, and then our land code COVID emergency law on November 5, 2020. Our public health orders pursuant to that law included controlling non-essential travel, requiring isolation and putting in gathering and occupancy limits in public and private locations on reserve. Our first wave was in October and November of 2020. We maxed at four cases. During our second wave, which started in January 2021 and extended into February 2021, we needed help enforcing some public health orders. It wasn't forthcoming. People started to know that the RCMP would not do anything to help, so they were much more brazen in defying the public health orders.

We could have had help from the RCMP using the drunk tank, using laws that they could enforce, to stop people, who in some cases were positive, from going house to house looking for a party or a bed. We could have used some RCMP presence on our roads and at the checkpoint just to show support for our curfew and our lockdown measures.

The lack of support from the RCMP got so ridiculous that one of our nurses went to a home to do contact tracing and found herself interrupting a domestic dispute where a woman was being beaten up. The RCMP did not respond. They said it was a public health matter and they wouldn't respond. Our safety officer attended. The RCMP responded only when the second call came in with information, I guess, from somebody who wasn't in the middle of the situation.

During that time, it was expressed by the members of our pandemic emergency response team, our health team and our enforcement team that we felt abandoned. We were struggling to control the spread. Our second wave reached 155 cases and close to 300 contacts. We all suffered personal fallout. I feel that we all have PTSD from the situation we found ourselves in.

We have not enacted any laws after the expiry of our emergency law. The decision was, basically, what good is the law if it's not enforceable? As a result, we haven't done anything since then.

We're now starting our third wave. This time it's the U.K. variant. We might exceed our second wave. It's in our school and our day cares already, and contact tracing or “contact chasing” is under way. If we do better this time, I feel it will be due to our vaccination efforts, not necessarily the enforcement of our laws.

I will end it there. Thank you very much for listening.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Bratina]

Thank you very much, Chief, and thank you to all our witnesses.

Now we're going to our rounds of questioning. In the first six-minute round, we will have Gary Vidal, Jaime Battiste, Sylvie Bérubé and Rachel Blaney.

Gary Vidal, please, go ahead for six minutes.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to start by thanking all our witnesses today for your excellent testimony. It's going to help us as we formulate some recommendations that will come out in our report on this study.

I'm going to start with Chief Bill this morning.

Chief Bill, I don't know if you remember, but I had the privilege of participating in the public safety committee meetings last summer when you were there. I remember some of your testimony then very specifically. I want to follow up a little bit on what we talked about last July and also some of your comments today.

First of all, you spoke last summer of your community safety plan and specifically the community safety officer program. Again today, you spoke of it very highly. You were elected in 2014. You identified an issue. You listened to people and you started to act. You created some pretty significant partnerships, by the sound of it. One of the outcomes was this community safety officer program, which you said consisted of four full-time and two part-time members by 2016.

I want you to share a little bit more. It sounds like, potentially, a real solution to the issue. I experienced this myself as the mayor of a small city. I know the first nation next to my community has begun that journey as well. It seems like an option to create some really significant solutions. Could you expand a little bit on the journey from 2014 to 2016 and how you got to the place where you enacted that CSO program?

[Chief Doris Bill]

Thank you for the question.

We developed the program after the murders of several people in our community. That really plunged our community into a crisis, and we realized and understood that we needed something a lot more. The circumstances I described were that people were feeling unsafe. You could just see all of the issues bubble to the surface during that time, issues that had been there for a long time but were below the surface.

When we built the program, we built it after months and months of conversations with our citizens. The program really came out when we put people out there into the community, just to keep an eye on the community, and our people said they felt safe. That's when it really started to take off. The conversations we had with our citizens really helped to guide the program.

In addition to the safety officer program, we also focused on the infrastructure in our community. We would clear trails for line of sight for safety. We improved lighting on our buildings. We improved the infrastructure in our community, which had been neglected for a very long time.

We went to work in building relationships and partnerships, partnerships that really helped us to deal with some of the issues in our community. The relationship with the RCMP was not a good one, and we realized that had to change. Today, I can say that I have one officer here, for instance, who had been here many years ago prior to the community safety program, and he said that the change is just unbelievable. People drive through our community now and say that they actually feel the difference. It's not just seeing the difference; they feel it.

There are so many good things that have come out of this. We just recently completed an evaluation, and that evaluation has really documented the evidence that it has saved money, both in calls to service and from the bylaw end. We just keep working to improve it and on improving the relationships we have.

It's a program, though, that is tailored to the community. Each community is different. It may look a bit different in other communities, but I do know that we've been contacted by first nations across the country about this program. I wish we could help. We're only a small nation compared to some of the others that I've heard on this call.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Thank you. By participating here and sharing your experience, you can help many others, so I'm going to encourage you to keep speaking.

The chair is going to cut me off very soon, so I'm going to ask a very quick question.

We've talked a lot about jurisdictional challenges as we talk about building relationships and finding solutions. You seem to have found your way through some of that with the partnerships with the territory and the federal government and your own self-governing urban first nation. Can you quickly talk about some of the key things you learned about overcoming the jurisdictional issue and building those partnerships with the many people you talked about?