The Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples heard from one of Saskatchewan’s top elected First Nations officials in Ottawa on Tuesday morning.
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Vice-Chief Simon Bird spoke to the committee on the topic of Canada’s justice system and how if affects Indigenous peoples.
Vice-Chief Bird says when police fully engage in a First Nation community’s activities, it can go a long way toward alleviating some of the mistrust that may exist.
“Time to time, we have RCMP members come into the community, engage the youth, they take time to coach, and really that prevents so much from the wall I guess that RCMP sometimes have with our First Nations people because that builds a relationship,” he says.
He adds the FSIN also believes installing on-reserve peace officers and looking at alternative policing measures would go a long way to improving the relationship between First Nations people and the police.
Nevertheless, he says the FSIN has not yet been given the necessary resources by the federal government to move ahead with installing peace officers in Saskatchewan’s First Nations communities.
The committee meets again on Wednesday.