Question Period Note: First Nations and Inuit Policing Program

• The Government of Canada is taking steps to ensure policing in First Nation and Inuit communities, supported through the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP), are professional, dedicated and culturally responsive to the communities they serve.
• The December 2021 mandate letters for the Ministers of Public Safety, Indigenous Services and Crown–Indigenous Relations direct Ministers to: Continue to work with First Nations partners to co-develop a legislative framework for First Nations policing.

• Everyone in Canada should feel safe in their community.

• The Government of Canada is committed to working with First Nations and Inuit partners, provinces and territories, and with self-administered police services to support the delivery of culturally-responsive policing in First Nations and Inuit communities.

• Budget 2024 committed $267.5 million over five years, and $92.5 million per year ongoing, for the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program; and $200 million over five years, to repair, renovate and replace policing facilities in First Nations and Inuit communities.

• These investments are helping to stabilize the funding support for First Nations and Inuit police services, which is cost-shared based on a 52% federal – 48% provincial/territorial ratio. The Government of Canada continues to work with provinces/territories and Indigenous partners to roll out these investments.

First Nations and Inuit Policing Program (FNIPP)
• FNIPP is a contribution program that enables the Government of Canada to support culturally-appropriate and responsive policing and community safety services in over 400 First Nation and Inuit communities, representing 60% of all First Nation and Inuit communities in Canada. FNIPP policing agreements are cost-shared between the federal government (52%) and the Provinces/Territories (PT) (48%). Funding under the FNIPP is provided to support two main policing models:
o Self-Administered Police Service Agreements (SA): A First Nation or Inuit police service is authorized or established by the PT government and provides day-to-day policing services to a First Nation or Inuit community; and,
o Community Tripartite Agreements (CTA): A contingent of police officers from the RCMP provides dedicated policing to a First Nation or Inuit community to supplement base-level policing services.
In addition to these two main policing models, the FNIPP provides support to other policing agreements, with additional police officer positions.
2024 Auditor General Report
• The Auditor General tabled a report on the FNIPP in March 2024 (the Report) which, among other things, was critical of Public Safety’s (PS) financial management of the Program and found that the department, as well as the RCMP, did not work in partnership with First Nations and Inuit communities to provide equitable access to the program. PS and the RCMP fully accepted the findings and recommendations of the Report and are working with partners to both modernize the program and address Report recommendations.
Co-development of First Nations police services legislation
• From 2021 to 2024, PS worked with partners to co-develop federal legislation which would recognize First Nations police services as an essential service. The envisioned legislation would have been primarily designed to ensure equitable and predictable levels of federal funding and complement provincial/territorial policing legislation.
• The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) was PS’s original co-development partner. However, the AFN has revised its mandate via three resolutions, most recently in July 2024 (resolution 42/2024), to direct the AFN to co-develop legislation that would recognize First Nations’ inherent rights and jurisdiction over policing, which would include paramountcy of First Nations laws over provincial/territorial policing legislation. At the July 2024 AFN Annual General Assembly, the then Minister of Public Safety reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to tabling legislation within the original mandate and working with the National Chief to overcome the impasse.
• The co-development process was completed in Fall 2024 with the posting on PS’s website of the “Proposed Elements to inform the First Nations police services legislation”. These elements were the result of over three years of collaboration with provinces and territories, the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association and the First Nations Police Governance council and validated with First Nations leadership through Indigenous-led engagement. However, as the impasse with the AFN concerning the scope of the legislation was not overcome, legislation has not been introduced.
 

If Pressed

Q1-Program Spending
• The Government invested $334M in culturally-responsive policing through the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program in 2024-25.
• FNIPP is a cost-shared program where the federal government works with provinces and territories to invest in in culturally-responsive policing.
• Unspent funds are largely due to RCMP officer vacancies or result when the province or territory fails to secure its share of funding.
• The Government is working in partnership with provinces, territories, law enforcement and First Nations and Inuit communities to maximize program spending.

Q2-Litigation
• In response to First Nations’ calls for change through legal challenges and human rights complaints, Public Safety Canada is committed to investing in the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program as well as to updating the terms and conditions of the program to respond to the operational requirements of modern-day police services.
• More than $467 million was committed through Budget 2024 to support self-administered policing in First Nations and Inuit communities.
• Public Safety Canada is committed to continuing to work in partnership with First Nations and Inuit communities alongside provincial and territorial governments of jurisdiction so that First Nations and Inuit police services are financially supported to be professional, dedicated and culturally responsive to the communities they serve.

Q3-Office of the Auditor General of Canada’s Report 3 – First Nations and Inuit Policing Program
• The Government of Canada welcomes this audit report.
• The audit findings are informing Public Safety’s ongoing partnership with provinces and territories, law enforcement agencies (including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and First Nations and Inuit communities, to strengthen the strategic focus and measurable impact of First Nations and Inuit Policing Program initiatives.
• The Government of Canada recognizes that it needs to do better. The recommendations came at a fitting time, as Public Safety Canada has been exploring ways to improve the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program in collaboration with provinces and territories, and First Nations and Inuit communities.
• We have engaged with key partners to develop a path forward and to develop a detailed action plan that addresses the recommendations outlined in the audit.

Q4-Legislation Recognizing First Nation Police Services as Essential
• The Government of Canada is committed to working with First Nations and Inuit partners, provinces and territories, and police services to support culturally-responsive self-administered police service delivery in First Nations and Inuit communities. I want to acknowledge their leadership in advancing this work.
• A lot of effort went into co-developing legislation that would recognize First Nations police services as essential services. I am committed to connecting with First Nations leadership, police services, and provinces and territories to determine the best way forward to continue to support these services.

Q5-RCMP Community Engagement and Trust Building

• It is important that people in Canada have trust and confidence in those who serve and protect them.
• The RCMP is committed to building trusting relationships with Indigenous people, communities, organizations, and governments across Canada. Supporting the safety and well-being of Indigenous communities is a priority, and efforts to enhance service delivery, trauma-informed investigative standards and advance reconciliation are underway.
• The RCMP is working with Indigenous communities and Divisions to create distinctions-based and uniquely specific Community Profiles that facilitate community input regarding their culture, language, or traditions, to improve police service delivery.
• The RCMP is engaging with national, regional and local First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders to formalize working relationships to strengthen information sharing, and how they work together with Indigenous governments, partners and organizations.

Q6-RCMP Vacancies and Response Times in Indigenous Communities
• The RCMP will continue taking numerous steps to increase recruitment and retention of Regular Members and to reinforce its position as a desired choice for new police officers within Canada.
• The RCMP is offering expedited processing to applicants interested in working in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as well as northern parts of provinces and the territories. The RCMP is also asking Regular Members and active reservists to consider a temporary deployment in Saskatchewan or Manitoba.
• The RCMP has also introduced an initiative whereby new and current Regular Members can agree to be posted to a specific Division where there are staffing shortages for a defined period (e.g. a three-year posting), with the understanding that the Regular Member will go to a preferred Division once they have completed their tenure in their current posting.