Members of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation in Lac-Saint-Jean were victims of discrimination by Public Safety Canada in terms of how they were funded, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) has decided.

The decision, handed down earlier this week, has been welcomed by Indigenous leaders as a "decisive and major" victory for all First Nations police services in the country, they say.

Chief Gilbert Dominique had filed a complaint in court in 2016 on behalf of his nation, the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation to denounce underfunding that he argued affects the public safety of Mashteuiatsh and other Indigenous communities. Their police were part of the federal First Nations policing program.

The CHRT found that Dominique's complaint was well-founded and that there was "adverse treatment," as well as discrimination for the provision of a public service, under the law "because of race and of national or ethnic origin."

"Systemic discrimination is present and confirmed by the Human Rights Tribunal. Governments must act and implement real actions to eradicate this discrimination," Chief Dominique said at a press conference on Thursday.

The federal government has 30 days to decide whether or not to appeal the judgment. Ottawa had tried to block the complaint, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction in the case, an argument rejected by the CHRT.

As a next step, the CHRT will establish the forms of reparations that Ottawa must offer. Dominique hopes that these reparations will result in a change in the funding method to ensure the longer-term sustainability of Indigenous public safety services.

Although the decision affects only one police force, Canada will have no choice but to look at reparations in a global form for all the communities of the country, since they all share the same situation, said the lawyer representing the Pekuakamiulnuatsh, Benoît Amyot.

NEARLY HAD TO CLOSE

Dominique recounted that his community's police service ran into deficits and "nearly closed" in 2016 due to underfunding.

This lack of money, combined with a series of short-term funding agreements, has also had an impact on the quality or supplies and equipment, the number of staff, and officer salaries -- a gap with the levels that are standard for non-Indigenous police, said Dominique.

"The First Nations Policing Program of Public Safety Canada did not allow us to cover the actual expenses of our public safety in order to meet a minimum of service," he said.

"However, our police force has the same missions, responsibilities and powers under Quebec police law."

This reality affects all 22 Indigenous police forces in the province, said Pierre Simard, the director general of the Association of First Nations and Inuit Police Directors of Quebec.

"A victim or a crime in an Indigenous community should be able to be met with the same support, the same tools, as in non-Indigenous territory," he said.

According to Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) Chief Ghislain Picard, the court ruling confirms that "governments have failed miserably in providing funding to support First Nations policing."

Picard, who handles the public security portfolio at the national level, is once again calling on the federal government to pass a law that recognizes Indigenous police forces as essential services to ensure adequate funding.

Provincial politicians should also take note of the CHRT's conclusion, Picard, since the costs of service agreements under the First Nations policing program are shared between Ottawa at 52 per cent and the provinces at 48 per cent.

This distribution of costs also leads to a "vagueness" and an "ambiguity" which "cause a tango dance" between Quebec and the federal government, each passing the buck as to their responsibilities, Simard said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 3, 2022.