James Favel has settled a lawsuit filed against the organization he co-founded that grew to be a pioneering model for Indigenous-led community safety in Canada.
In 2022, Favel filed suit against the Bear Clan Patrol after the board of directors he helped assemble removed him as executive director in 2020. At the same time, the lawsuit claims, a board member made defamatory statements about Favel on social media.
The statement of claim says Favel suffered public humiliation, emotional distress, loss of community involvement and loss of enjoyment of life.
There was no statement of defence filed by the non-profit.
Conditions of the settlement are confidential but Favel says it’s a “huge relief.”
In the five years since the upheaval at the non-profit, Favel has started a successful consulting company that assists Indigenous communities with crisis management, while Bear Clan has lost some of its funding and its charitable status was revoked on July 5, 2025 for failing to file financials, according to the Canada Revenue Agency website.
Bear Clan Patrol was once considered the gold-standard model for non-violent, non-confrontational community safety patrol, focusing on harm reduction in Winnipeg’s most vulnerable neighbourhoods.
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In its heyday, Bear Clan Patrol also ran a food hamper program and claimed a 75 per cent success rate in finding missing people.
Community activist Sel Burrows says the biggest loser in the legal drama is the communities Bear Clan Patrol used to serve.
He says smaller grassroots groups have emerged but haven’t filled the big shoes of the Bear Clan.
No one from Bear Clan Patrol responded to an interview request.
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