QUESTION PERIOD — Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Legislative Framework for First Nations Policing
December 10, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Harder, in the Speech from the Throne I was pleased to hear the government’s steadfast commitments to reconciliation and Indigenous peoples. Chief among them was a commitment to introduce legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the end of 2020, to continue the work to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, and to the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Carolyn Bennett, the Minister for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, speaking to the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly last week, stated that a national action plan in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls would be tabled this coming June.
One of the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry, No. 5.4, specifically deals with the call for governments to transform Indigenous policing. Call for Justice No. 5.4 calls upon governments to ensure that First Nations policing must be an exercise in self-governance and self-determination.
In the Liberal Party of Canada’s platform in the last election, a commitment was made to co-develop a legislative framework for First Nations policing which recognizes First Nations policing as an essential service. While this Liberal Party platform was not specifically mentioned in last week’s Speech from the Throne, the commitment to the inquiry to work on implementing the Calls for Justice was mentioned. As the national inquiry points out, First Nations policing is critical in addressing the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
My question, Senator Harder, is this: While not specifically mentioned in the Speech from the Throne, can you confirm that the government is committed to the co-development of a legislative framework for First Nations policing, keeping in mind the specific parameters and Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls?
Again, I thank the honourable senator for her question and for her vigilance in raising the issues of Aboriginal and Indigenous reform and reconciliation.
The Speech from the Throne, as the honourable senator referenced, made significant commitments with regard to the priority that is placed by the government. I should also say that in the coming days I expect the mandate letters of ministers to become public, which will be further refinement of the expectations the government has of its ministry. I will leave for those documents to review the pacing and timing of the commitments the government made in the last election.
