have rejected the federal Public Safety Minister’s offer to give them more control over their financing and operations, opting to instead wait for an imminent judicial ruling on their months-long funding impasse with Ottawa.
“Respectfully, Minister, you clearly could have taken these steps beforehand, but chose to time the matter in a way that causes even more confusion and anxiety,” the police chiefs wrote in their letter this week.since their government grant arrangements expired on March 31. Negotiations for new ones had since broke down in a dispute over the federal government’s terms and conditions.
The Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, which represents nine police forces in the province, has launched a legal action supporting its three members positions. This led to a June 14 emergency hearing in Federal Court where lawyers urged a judge to unlock government funds. A ruling is pending. “Until First Nations Police Services legislation is introduced, I continue to be constrained by the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program Terms and Conditions as this is the only mechanism to flow funding to your Police Services,” he wrote.