TORONTO - Calls for the dismantling of the Thunder Bay Police Service continue to grow, but First Nation leaders are now calling on the provincial government to implement an immediate moratorium on the Police Service from conducting any major crime investigations.
“Every day the Thunder Bay Police Service is allowed to investigate the death of an Indigenous person and at this time because we do not have trust or faith in the police service, we are asking our request for a moratorium be accepted,” said Nishnawbe Aski Nation deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum. “I cannot trust the Thunder Bay Police Service to investigate another death of an Indigenous person in the city of Thunder Bay.”
Achneepineskum was joined by MPP Sol Mamakwa and Anishinabek Nation Grand Chief Reginald Niganobe during a media conference from Queen’s Park on Wednesday, where they called for the dismantling of the Thunder Bay Police Service.
“Systemic racism exists within the Thunder Bay Police Service and needs to be ripped out at its roots,” Niganobe said. “We demand the Solicitor General proceed with dismantling with the Thunder Bay Police Service. The Ontario government needs to prioritize listening to the Indigenous people who live, work, and visit the city of Thunder Bay.”
Niganobe added that the Thunder Bay Police Service leaves a trail of inadequate investigations and negligently managed record system, and a lack of substantial oversight.
“As an immediate measure, the police should no longer be permitted to do major crime investigations,” he said.
The calls follow the recent release of a report as part of the reinvestigation into nine sudden deaths involving Indigenous people as recommended by the 2018 Office of the Independent Police Review Director’s report.
Throughout the process of the reinvestigations, 16 other sudden deaths involving Indigenous people in the city of Thunder Bay have been recommended for reinvestigation.
“The documented racism and wilful blindness of the Thunder Bay Police Services and board has convinced us that no Indigenous family faced with a tragic death of their loved one can trust the work of the police services,” Achneepinekum said. “Today we stand united to call to address the racism and ongoing victimization of Indigenous families. We want that to end.”
The reinvestigation into the nine sudden deaths recommended by the OIPRD was flawed from the beginning, Achneepineskum said, because of a lack of meaningful inclusion and inconsistent communication with family members.
“The way the reinvestigation had been managed had made many families very angry,” she said. “We tried to seek answers and the door was closed to our face. There are 16 more families who have suffered because of the incompetence of the Thunder Bay Police Service, who will suffer again once the deaths are re-examined.”
In terms of dismantling the Thunder Bay Police Service, Achneepineskum said they are still reviewing the options for possible alternatives, which could include the Ontario Provincial Police.
Some Thunder Bay City councillors recently rejected any calls to replace the Thunder Bay Police Services with the OPP, with some on council saying they are open to exploring the options, but not while the local police service is under investigation.
The Ontario Civilian Police Commission recently launched an investigation into the service, as well as the OPP following numerous human rights complaints filed by current members of the service and board member Georjann Morriseau.
“The city has had ample opportunity to respond and also become unaffiliated with such a police force and they haven’t taken that motion or made those motions yet,” Niganobe said. “It is at this time that we hope they join us and call for that same outcome of dismantling this police force.”
In the meantime, Achneepineskum said any future major crimes investigation in the city should be conducted by the OPP.
“At this point, if an unfortunate death was to happen today, then we would be recommending and suggesting that it be the OPP because they are there, they have the jurisdiction and until a time that we have another process or another service, it would be the OPP,” she said.
