Back in the nineties, when we had tribal police, it was funded provincially. The tribal police folded at the time. I wasn't there; I was young. I was an employee at the time.
There was a police commission at the time, and it was working with the provincial police and the RCMP. I think funding went on for almost 10 years, and finally they didn't renew it. The RCMP took over, the H division, which is all across Nova Scotia. All of the tribal police members became RCMP officers at that time. Along the way, only a few went, so they continued working as RCMP officers to the point where they couldn't work on a beat anymore—meaning working the streets. They were dealing with mental health, PTSD and health issues. The majority of them are retired now.
Now we're on the brink of losing one more officer. She's on almost her 25th year. She's going to retire soon. Then we have two young ones. They don't speak the language, but they grew up in the community. They know the reservation life. They know the background, and they know the people. They're very important to young individuals. We need more of our indigenous officers to work in their communities. Right now, it's not happening. They're having a hard time getting in, even though they have education. They're smart. They can read. They're capable. They're healthy.
In our communities, we really push healthy living. We invest our own dollars, our own resources, in young people to be healthy, to eat healthy and to exercise—including me. I exercise and train because I want to be a role model for our young people. I do not drink. I've never taken drugs. I want to be a role model. I want our people to have a good life, not the life like when I was younger.
Many people in my generation—I'm 50 years old—in our younger days.... I don't want our young people to go through what we went through: the discrimination, the racism, amongst police officers and everybody in that age. We need to change that now, and it's in our hands here, together—indigenous leadership and all the leaders here in Ottawa.