Both the justice minister and I have mandate instructions from the Prime Minister to work with all dimensions of the criminal justice system to deal with the very negative consequences of that system for a great many indigenous people. Minister Wilson-Raybould, as you know, has a whole range of laws and procedures under consideration.
One of the dimensions of it that relates to my portfolio is the first nations policing program. That program was established in the early 1990s. The last minister to actually give it a policy facelift was solicitor general Herb Gray in 1996. It hasn't been improved in terms of policy since that time. I give Mr. Gray a lot of credit for what he did back then, but that's over 20 years ago, and it's time to bring the policy up to date. It also has not had a financial increment since 2009.
It is basically a 50/50 arrangement, or almost 50/50—it's 52/48—between the federal government and the provinces. We each contribute an amount to the first nations policing program and then try our best to provide, in consultation with first nations communities, good solid policing services, but with the amount of money that's available and the policy framework that's available today, we're not nearly meeting the need. Probably not much more than half of the communities that could quality for this kind of service actually have it.
The objective here is to bring the policy up to date so that indigenous communities can count on top-notch policing services that are equal in terms of standards and professionalism to the policing services that every other group of Canadians takes for granted, to make sure the cultural sensitivity is there in the way the service is delivered, and to make sure there is adequate financing on a long-term basis.
Many of the first nations have said to us that we should really think of whether or not a first nations policing “program”, which implies that it's temporary, is the right way to go when we're providing a fundamental service such as a police service, and maybe there should be a more comprehensive and permanent basis for the way in which all governments come together to ensure safety in first nations communities.