Nine First Nations police services say Ottawa’s “deliberate and wilful underfunding” of policing in their communities amounts to discrimination.
The services, represented by the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, recently launched a complaint over the matter with Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
The complaint, filed last week and first reported by the Globe and Mail newspaper, details its concerns with the First Nations Inuit Policing Program, which is the mechanism the federal government has used to fund their services since 1991.
First Nations leaders have for years said the program has suffered from a lack of resources.
An internal evaluation of the program released last year also shows the “finite amount” of money in its budget has led to an underfunding of police agreements, which has created ongoing challenges for First Nations police services.
The complaint alleges the federal government has failed to make the necessary changes and is seeking $40,000 in damages for those living in communities First Nations police serve.