Mr. Chair and colleagues, thank you for inviting me and thank you for introducing my colleagues from the department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who have joined me.
Mr. Chair, just by way of an opening, I know you invited me for an hour and I'm happy to be here for an hour. I was here on time, but you were running a bit late. As I mentioned to some of you, I am seeing the national chief of indigenous policing on this very issue in my office in the Confederation Building at 1:15, so you'll understand that at 1:05 or 1:10 I will excuse myself, so as to not keep her waiting.
Colleagues, it is significant that today is the fifth anniversary—I just wanted to note, in the sombre moment that it is—of the release of the report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It struck me when I was preparing for this conversation on the weekend that we would be here on this very day.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak about the Auditor General of Canada’s performance audit report on the first nations and Inuit policing program, or FNIPP, and I thank Auditor General Karen Hogan and her team for the report and their work. I had quite a productive discussion with her, by the way.
As you know, the FNIPP is an important program that aims to increase access to dedicated, culturally responsive policing services in first nations and Inuit communities, consistent with provincial and territorial jurisdiction over administration of justice, including policing operations.
The Government of Canada welcomes the Auditor General's recommendations. These come at a fitting time, as Public Safety Canada is currently exploring ways to modernize its programming for indigenous people. The report will help guide the department, and partners like the RCMP, as it looks to improve the delivery and impact of the FNIPP, including through measurable results, in the communities it serves.
Our efforts to act on the report's recommendations are already under way. That's what I was able to assure the Auditor General in my constructive conversation with her.
For instance, Public Safety Canada has recently updated its internal structure to streamline the delivery of the program related to indigenous issues, programs and policy work within our department's mandate.
The Government of Canada has also committed to tabling legislation that recognizes first nations police services as essential services, as soon as is feasible, and we're well on our way to making this happen. That is the subject of a conversation that I have had with the national chief and other partners, but I'm going to continue that conversation, as I said, a little later this afternoon as well. In fact, over this past winter indigenous-led regional and national engagement sessions have been held on proposed legislative options to co-develop federal legislation to recognize first nations police services as essential services.
This engagement builds on the ongoing collaboration that our department has fostered with first nations and subject matter experts, obviously, like the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association and the First Nations Police Governance Council, as well as, of course, provincial and territorial partners.
Public Safety has also revisited the program management relationship with the RCMP to more readily consider and integrate officer availability in program management decisions, which was the subject of some of the Auditor General's fair comments.
The RCMP is continuing to work with communities to improve cultural awareness and practices as they reaffirm their commitment to keeping indigenous communities safe, including through the first nations and Inuit policing program. I have had reassuring and constructive conversations with Commissioner Mike Duheme and I have a lot of confidence in the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Brown and Deputy Commissioner Larkin, who are with me today.
In conclusion, the Government of Canada will continue to work closely with first nations and Inuit partners, law enforcement agencies, and provinces and territories.
The provinces and territories make the decisions on the level of policing needs in their jurisdiction, identify priorities for this program and provide 48% of the costs. As you well know, the federal government then cost-matches the remaining 52%.
In advancing this work, it is important that we respect the constitutional division of power. It is a challenge in this context, but in my opinion, the challenge is not insurmountable.
We look forward to continuing to work with indigenous communities that rely on these services. It is their security and their safety that should guide all these efforts.
Thank you very much.
