Police Services Act must be improved to protect First Nations people, says AMC chief

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Grand Chief Arlen Dumas PHOTO BY JOSH ALDRICH /Winnipeg Sun

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Grand Chief Arlen Dumas would like to see changes in the Police Services Act (PSA) following the recent death of a First Nations man charged with assaulting a police officer.

Brian Halcrow from Tataskweyak Cree Nation was arrested by Thompson RCMP for throwing a hat at Const. Jeremiah Dumont-Fontaine in June 2019. Following the incident, Halcrow committed suicide after he was charged with three counts of assaulting an officer and causing a disturbance.

New video surveillance, obtained by the Independent Investigations Unit (IIU), shows the hat flew past Dumont-Fontaine and hit the ground. This indicates that the assault may not have occurred.

“This is yet another disturbing and tragic report of a First Nation citizen being brutally mistreated by officers, which may be a direct contributing factor in his decision to take his own life,” said Dumas in a press release.

In November last year, an independent review of the PSA came up with 70 recommendations to improve policing and police oversight in Manitoba.Among the recommendations were changes to the sections of the legislation that govern the IIU.

Among the recommendations were changes to the sections of the legislation that govern the IIU.

In this case, Dumont-Fontaine is protected by the provisions of the PSA that do not compel the subject officer to hand over notes about an incident to the IIU investigating officers or to be interviewed about the matter.

Due to this, IIU has decided to take law enforcement to court to gain access to Dumont-Fontaine’s report. Arguments over the disclosure of the occurrence report on the Halcrow incident will be heard in Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench on March 5.

“Unless this is changed in legislation, the IIU will continue to play a part in the disproportionate rates of First Nations arrests and incarcerations, and subject officers will continue to be found not responsible for acts of brutality and/or justified in the use of deadly force,” said Dumas.

Dumas urge the Province of Manitoba to implement the recommendations of the final report on the PSA to prevent and reduce similar tragic events from occurring in the future.

As well, changes to the PSA could bring closure and better administration of justice for many First Nation citizens such as Halcrow.

“It is disturbing and emotionally exhausting for First Nations in Manitoba to be continually exposed to reports and alleged incidents of the use of excessive force perpetrated on First Nations by police officers, conservation officers, and correctional officers in this province,” said Dumas.

“The PSA legislation is a contributing factor, and I continue to urge the Province and specifically Manitoba Justice to implement its recommendations, in partnership with First Nations in the spirit and intent of reconciliation and for a measure of justice for those First Nations lives lost as a result of police misconduct.”

Justice Minister Cameron Friesen said that the province has committed to introducing legislation this year that will strengthen the Manitoba IIU.

“We are sincerely interested in facilitating changes to the IIU that are designed to increase transparency and confidence and better reflect the communities it serves. These efforts are well underway and we are committed to that path,” he said on Wednesday.

By Nicole Wong • Winnipeg Sun Posted: Mar 03, 2021.

[SOURCE]

First Nations Chiefs Sign Agreement With RCMP To Address Racism Within Force

AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde, left, signs a memorandum of understanding with RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, during the AFN annual general assembly in Niagara Falls, Ont., on July 12, 2016. (Chris Glover/CBC)

Annual gathering of Indigenous chiefs goes today through Thursday in Niagara Falls, Ont.

By Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Jul 12, 2016

The Assembly of First Nations signed an agreement with the RCMP on Tuesday to address racism and discrimination within the force as the two sides look for new ways to improve relations ahead of the federal government’s inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The memorandum of understanding comes just over six months after RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson openly admitted during the Special Chiefs in Assembly last December there are “racists” inside his police force.

“We invited the commissioner back again … to be part of this MOU… about how can we work together to deal with issues, deal with all those misconceptions that are within the police,” said National Chief Perry Bellegarde as the AFN kicked off its three-day annual general meeting in Niagara Falls, Ont.

“How can we work together to make sure that that air is cleared, that cloud is gone, that there is a bright sunny way within that RCMP?,” Bellegarde said.

While the government is not expected to launch an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women during the assembly, Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett told First Nations chiefs it is “very close” to making that announcement.

Bellegarde said an inquiry will force police to answer some difficult questions about the force’s own shortcomings.

“When the inquiry is announced, be prepared, because you will come under question and focus about why did you not put more resources into these things upon investigation… why was there not more respect for the families, why was there not more communication? All these things are going to come out.”

“There is still a lot of hurt, still a lot of pain with the families that are still looking for closure,” Bellegarde said.

The national chief said the launch of a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women could come later this month, or next month.

AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde signs a memorandum of understanding with Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett during the AFN annual general assembly in Niagara Falls, Ont., on July 12, 2016. (Chris Glover/CBC)

In his opening remarks, Bellegarde said Indigenous communities are “gaining momentum” — the theme of this year’s general assembly.

“It doesn’t mean all of our issues have been solved. But what it does mean is that, for the first time in a very long time, there is reason to believe that we are on the cusp of great change,” Bellegarde said.

“But it will take all of us, working together, to make it real for everyone.”

Bellegarde said the AFN also signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal government “to create a new fiscal relationship, one based on real needs.”

The AFN signed the MOU with Bennett to form a working group to advise the government on how it should move forward with funding for Indigenous communities.

The agreement follows the Trudeau government’s pledge to forge a new fiscal relationship with First Nations.

First Nations to benefit from Hydro One shares

The general assembly began with Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day announcing that First Nations communities in Ontario will benefit from the sale of Hydro One shares.

“As of 9 a.m. this morning, the province of Ontario has entered into an agreement in principle will all 133 First Nations communities to sell 15 million shares of Hydro One for our collective benefit,” Day said in his opening remarks.

Some eight months ago, Ontario began the biggest sell-off of a Canadian crown corporation in 20 years.

Chiefs will also hash out strategies for moving beyond the Indian Act, the primary legislation used by the federal government to administer everything from laws to membership and elections in First Nation communities.

Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is also scheduled to attend the assembly.

While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with chiefs at a 2015 AFN gathering, his office told CBC he will not be attending the general assembly in Niagara Falls this week.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/afn-meeting-niagara-falls-1.3674114

 

AFN Manitoba Regional Chief Urges Province Of Manitoba To Cooperate Fully With National Inquiry

Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Logo.

Newswire

AFN Manitoba Regional Chief Urges Manitoba Government to Cooperate Fully with Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

WINNIPEG, June 30, 2016 /CNW/ – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Regional Chief for Manitoba, Kevin Hart, stated today that the Province of Manitoba should cooperate fully in supporting and participating in a national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, in light of reported statements by Manitoba’s Justice Minister that there are concerns about the inquiry’s potential terms of reference.

“I am calling on the Government of Manitoba to fully support the upcoming national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and for Premier Pallister to honour the promise he made during the election to support the national inquiry. Recent reported statements are of deep concern to me. This crucial inquiry, a process that has been commended on the national stage at the United Nations and beyond, has been fought for by many families, political leaders, advocacy groups and activists.

Now is not the time for political posturing on the backs of the families affected by this national tragedy. I am not only concerned but deeply offended that this government would be resistant to cooperating as this process gets underway. When it comes to reconciliation in this province, much work lies ahead of us, and the national inquiry is an essential piece in that work.

Each statistic tells a story, and as each day goes by another innocent life is lost or put at risk. Our families have waited too long and worked too hard. The national inquiry must do justice to our stolen sisters – and this can only be achieved through the full support, respect and cooperation of all levels of government in Canada. We all must share in the responsibility seeing this process through to fruition.”

SOURCE Assembly of First Nations

For further information: Kayla Frank, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, 204-296-3601, kfrank@manitobachiefs.com

http://bit.ly/29uBYaE

AFN Chief Calls for Implementation of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Assembly of First Nations (AFN)

Red Power Media, April 22, 2016

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde Calls for Implementation of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

OTTAWA, April 21, 2016 /CNW/ – Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Perry Bellegarde commented today on the Private Member’s Bill put forward by Roméo Saganash, NDP Member of Parliament for Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavik-Eeyou (QC), C-262 – An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“The AFN welcomes this initiative as a means to move Canada forward in adopting and implementing the UN Declaration as an integral part of reconciliation,” said AFN National Chief Bellegarde. “The Declaration confirms the rights of Indigenous peoples as human rights. Its principles provide a framework for the implementation of Aboriginal and Treaty rights in the relationship between First Nations and Canada. Giving life to the Declaration will move all of Canada forward.”

In 2015, National Chief Bellegarde wrote to all Members of Parliament urging them to support an earlier version of this Bill, which was supported in the House by all NDP and Liberals MPs. The National Chief and AFN will examine the latest version of the Bill and engage First Nations and all MPs on next steps.

AFN Quebec-Labrador Regional Chief Ghislain Picard said: “We welcome with enthusiasm a Private Member’s Bill on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples tabled this morning by Mr. Roméo Saganash. We believe that all parties must see this next logical step as an opportunity for Canada to reconcile with its colonial past.”

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets out minimum standards for ensuring Indigenous peoples enjoy fundamental human rights, including the collective right to self-determination and rights in their traditional territories. The Declaration is an essential framework for reconciliation and renewing the nation-to-nation relationship as called for by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The federal government has committed to implementing the TRC’s calls to action, starting with the implementation of the UN Declaration. The National Chief will be at the United Nations next month to attend meetings of the Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples where the UN Declaration will feature prominently in the discussions.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples can be read at: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf

The Assembly of First Nation is the national organization representing First Nation citizens in Canada.

SOURCE: Assembly of First Nations

For further information: Alain Garon, AFN Bilingual Communications Officer, 613-241-6789, ext. 382; 613-292-0857 or agaron@afn.ca; Jenna Young Castro AFN Communications Officer 613-241-6789, ext. 401; 613-314-8157 or jyoung@afn.ca

Daughter Of Murdered Activist Wants Apology From Assembly Of First Nations

The FBI believes Annie Mae Pictou Aquash was executed by members of the American Indian Movement because the group’s leaders believed she was an informant. Leonard Peltier has been linked to the men convicted of the 1975 murder

By: Michael MacDonald The Canadian Press, Mar 09 2016

HALIFAX—To many aboriginals, Leonard Peltier is a hero of the American native rights movement in the 1970s and a wrongfully convicted political prisoner whose story has inspired films, books, songs and T-shirt slogans.

But in the Mi’kmaq community of Indian Brook, N.S., the former member of the American Indian Movement is a largely reviled figure, considered unworthy of his cultlike status.

Those competing visions clashed Wednesday when the daughter of a murdered native rights activist from Indian Brook demanded an apology from the head of the Assembly of First Nations for suggesting Peltier should be freed from a U.S. prison.

Denise Maloney Pictou, daughter of Annie Mae Pictou Aquash, said Perry Bellegarde’s comments earlier this week were insensitive to the plight of murdered and missing aboriginal women because of Peltier’s ties to the men convicted of killing Aquash in 1975.

“To have an entity like the AFN endorse him marks a sad day,” Pictou said in an interview. “It sends a mixed message … It’s certainly a slap in the face.”

In a series of previous court cases in the United States, the FBI has implied that Aquash was executed by members of the American Indian Movement because the group’s leaders believed she was an informant.

Bellegarde said Wednesday he planned to apologize to Pictou for the pain his comments caused.

“I regret that my statement on TV caused some hurt and pain for her and I want to make sure she knows that,” Bellegarde said in an interview.

“I don’t have as much information as the family has, so I’ll be mindful and respectful, and if they’ve got requests for support, I can also look at that as well.”

However, he said the AFN’s position on the matter has been clear since 1999 when the organization adopted a resolution urging the Canadian government to ask the U.S. Attorney General to free Peltier.

“The Peltier family has been living with an injustice as well,” he said. “We have chiefs’ resolutions that call for his release, in addition to (a similar call) from Amnesty International and … the Dalai Lama.”

Leonard Peltier was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1975 killing of two FBI officers. He was sentenced to life in prison but has always maintained his innocence.

The national chief, in an interview broadcast Monday on CBC, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should ask U.S. President Barack Obama to pardon Peltier when Trudeau visits the White House on Thursday.

Bellegarde said Peltier was the victim of a miscarriage of justice when he was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting two FBI agents in South Dakota in 1975.

Cheryl Maloney, president of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association, said native leaders in the province, including the regional representative for the AFN, “had no clue” about Bellegarde’s position.

“I think the national chief has to retract what he said,” Maloney said in an interview. “He’s been very insensitive to the (Aquash) family.”

Maloney said the timing of Bellegarde’s comments couldn’t be worse, coming on the eve of International Women’s Day and in advance of the federal government’s promised inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women.

“Leonard Peltier has been romanticized as a hero,” Maloney said. “The (Aquash) family has taken great offence to that.”

In 1973, Aquash was among American Indian Movement militants who occupied the village of Wounded Knee on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in a 71-day standoff with federal authorities.

The simmering conflict came to a head in 1975 when the two FBI agents were shot on the reserve.

In 1977, a jury in Fargo, N.D., convicted Peltier of first-degree murder. The resident of the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota was sentenced to life in prison, but he has always maintained his innocence.

Aquash’s body was found in a remote area in southwest South Dakota in February 1976, but U.S. authorities didn’t file an indictment until March 2003.

Arlo Looking Cloud was convicted of Aquash’s murder in February 2004 and was sentenced to life in prison.

In April 2004, Aquash’s remains were exhumed from the reservation and later buried near her childhood home in Indian Brook, a small native community about 70 kilometres west of Halifax. Mi’kmaq and native leaders came from across Canada to mark the occasion on National Aboriginal Day.

In December 2007, a member of the Southern Tutchone tribe in the Yukon, John Graham, was extradited to the United States from Vancouver to stand trial for Aquash’s murder.

Graham was sentenced to life in prison in January 2011 for felony murder. Prosecutors said Graham and two other AIM activists, Looking Cloud and Theda Clarke, killed Aquash because they suspected she was an informant.

Clarke, who was never charged, died in October 2011.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/03/09/daughter-of-murdered-activist-wants-apology-from-assembly-of-first-nations.html