The NDP are proposing the province add $30 million to First Nations police.
Mushkegowuk-James Bay NDP MPP Guy Bourgouin has demanded that new Premier Doug Ford give First Nation communities equal access to the law in the form of a funding commitment to policing.
Bourgouin says currently the Attawapiskat First Nation is dealing with heavy amounts of illicit drugs and alcohol to the point that the Nishnawbe-Aski Police are struggling and Mushkegowuk Council have declared an emergency.
He says it often takes nearly a week for NAPS to get a warrant and what is happening is then community leaders are forced to seize the drugs themselves.
Energy, Northern Development and Mines and Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford’s response to Bourgouin was that he understands the issues faced by these communities.
Rickford says it doesn’t help that the Trudeau government had made their priority to legalize marijuana, which he says in the view of many Indigenous leaders was brought along too fast and without consultation.
The federal government has already placed $15 million towards First Nations Policing in the province, the NDP have proposed they add $30 million more.
