Madam Michaels will be supporting me during the question period of this presentation.
Qujannamiik, Mr. Chair.
Ublaahatkut, members of Parliament, chair, co-chairs, guests and staff.
My name is Gerri Sharpe and I am the vice-president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada. I am pleased to be here with you today on behalf of our president, Rebecca Kudloo.
Most of the Inuit population live in 51 communities spread across four regions of Inuit Nunangat: Nunavut, Nunavik, Inuvialuit, and Nunatsiavut.
Violence is a leading cause of mortality among Inuit women, at a rate of 14 times the national average.
In Inuit Nunangat, policing is the responsibility of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, except in Nunavik, which has been policed by the Kativik Regional Police Force since 1996.
Official statements by the RCMP and the KRPF state that policing is carried out in a manner that provides justice and the safety and security of all citizens.
A number of elements call into question whether policing in Inuit Nunangat is successful in protecting women. Some concerns include staffing shortages and the short duration of RCMP postings, a lack of experience of officers regarding the population and the lack of cultural competencies, language barriers, lack of Inuit police officers, lack of resources and underfunding, and lack of wraparound services.
How did we get here?
In just a few decades, we underwent a profound transformation in our lives and livelihood, transformation that was organized by colonial forces outside of our control. The RCMP played a key role in these operations. They relocated us from permanent settlements to permanent settlements, transported Inuit children to residential schools and slaughtered Inuit sled dogs.
Simply put, in Inuit Nunangat, policing is a structure built on systematic racism. This is a culture with deeply held views resulting in failed responses to the violence that Inuit women and girls experience.
Inuit communities have an inclusive culture, but policing has another, built on colonialism.
In January 2020, Pauktuutit released a report entitled “Addressing Gendered Violence against Inuit Women: A review of police policies and practices in Inuit Nunangat”. It revealed some fundamental issues that all lead to normalization of gendered violence against Inuit women. Police encounter significant challenges in carrying out their roles, including working in a high-risk, violent situation with a lack of referral resources to support those who need to escape domestic violence. The lack of investment in Inuit-led social services, health services and general infrastructure such as housing and shelters has also created an extra burden of responsibility on law enforcement. Individual officers can, and do, make a huge difference. We've heard positive stories from encounters with police, but the overall picture that has emerged from our report points to a largely flawed policing model.
Officers are poorly integrated into the community and therefore are not seen as trustworthy. They hold a limited understanding of the history of Inuit communities and the root causes of problems, especially regarding drug and alcohol use and domestic violence.
As a police officer emphasized, communication is fundamental in policing, yet fewer than five of the 150 RCMP officers in Nunavut are fluent in Inuktitut. The dispatch system does not offer Inuktitut-speaking staff. The language disconnect sets up quite for a barrier for Inuit women when they report gendered violence. This fact alone hinders the trust in policing.
Our report also finds that several women needing protection from violence are removed from their homes—instead of the abusers. This is a further injustice they experience that creates further trauma. Court-imposed sanctions are not being properly monitored, which results in mistrust and puts women in harm's way.
Racialized policing persists with Inuit women's encounters. You may recall this summer's explosive investigation by CBC into the conduct of the RCMP serving Nunavut's 25 communities. The investigation revealed shocking details of more than 30 cases of alleged RCMP misconduct, abuse and inhumane treatment of Inuit, especially women.
We are calling for a fundamental shift in how northern policing is carried out. Our report details 15 recommendations. The following are highlights: cultural competency training, with training on Inuit history and culture as well as local Inuktitut dialect; female officers, with one female officer present, if not leading, the statement-gathering process; Inuit advisory committees composed of elders, community leaders and cultural facilitators to ensure that police practices and procedures are integrating Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit principles; trauma-informed policing, with trauma training relevant to the historical and present-day experience of Inuit to de-escalate situations and build positive relationships; on the duration of postings, revisiting the RCMP policy of two-year postings in favour of longer postings; gender-based violence training, delivered at least in part by victim advocates and to include Inuit survivors of domestic violence; Inuit civilian positions that employ Inuit at each police department, such as interpreters, natural healers and community patrols or peacekeepers—