Police brutality is an instance or pattern of excessive and unwarranted force used against an individual or group of people. The Indigenous peoples of Canada include, as designated by the Canadian government, Inuit, Metis, and First Nations individuals and are officially considered Aboriginal peoples.[1] Indigenous Canadians have experienced strenuous relationships with police as a result of colonization and lasting tensions. Since the early 2000s, several instances of police brutality against Indigenous Canadians have prompted media attention.
According to a CTV News analysis, an Indigenous Canadian has been over ten times more likely than a white Canadian to be shot and killed by a police officer since 2017.[2] According to the Yellowhead Institute, an Indigenous-focused research organization within the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University, police brutality in Canada is a result of structural racism and colonization.[3] Data from the 2020 General Social Survey reveals that only 52% of Indigenous Canadians age 15 and older reported that they were confident in the police force.[4] Comparatively, respondents to the same survey who were non-Indigenous and classified as non-visible minority group ranked confidence in police higher, with 70% of this population indicating that they were confident in the police and 11% ranking little or no confidence in the police.[4]
Causes
2019 General Social Survey data reveals that 33% of Indigenous Canadians experienced discrimination in the five year period before the survey was conducted.[5] Common causes for this were ethnicity, culture, race, and skin color.[5] Among Indigenous respondents who indicated they had experienced discrimination, 21% reported that the discrimination occurred while interacting with the police.[5] For reference, among non-Indigenous, non-visible minority respondents who reported instances of discrimination in the same period, only 4% indicated this occurred during interactions with the police.[5]
Additionally, crimes against Indigenous Canadians may be poorly addressed by law enforcement. A notable instance of this is the investigations into murders of women along the Highway of Tears between 1989 and 2006. During this time period, nine women either went missing or were found murdered along a 724-kilometer stretch of Highway 16 in British Columbia, Canada, eight of whom were Indigenous Canadians.[6] Indigenous communities in the area have reported numbers that exceed 30 missing and/or murdered women in this area, however.[6] Commissioner Wallace Taroo Oppal, known familiarly as Wally Oppal, found critical failures in the investigations pertaining to reporting, initial investigation, follow-up investigation, and communications with family members and reportees.[7]
In a qualitative study of young Indigenous and Black Canadian men who had experienced police interactions between February 2019 and March 2020, Indigenous Canadian youth revealed their concern that negative stereotypes of First Nations peoples impact how the police treat them.[8]
Effects
According to data from 2016, Indigenous Canadians were accused of homicide at a rate eleven times higher than that of white Canadians.[9] The 2017-2018 Annual Report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator shows that the proportion of all federally incarcerated inmates who are Indigenous rose from 20% in the 2008-2009 Annual Report to 28%.[10] The proportion is even higher for Indigenous Canadian women, increasing from 32% to 40% of federally incarcerated women in the same time period.[10] For comparison, Indigenous Canadians compose 4.1% of the total Canadian population.[10]
Policing and other governmental structures may contribute to the continuous marginalization of Indigenous Canadians.[11]Tribal Critical Race Theory, which is being used to approach new ideas of policing in Canada, is an emerging area of study that emphasizes maintaining a strong Indigenous identity such that western education systems do not usurp Indigenous practices.[12]
The Report of the Saskatchewan Indian Justice Review Committee, published in 1992, highlights that the committee received a significant quantity of complaints regarding Indigenous policing by the Saskatoon Police, including issues of excessive force, disrespect for accused persons, selective enforcement practices, and witness intimidation.[13]
The 1999 Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba reveals that Indigenous Canadians were more likely to be denied bail than non-Indigenous individuals and that Indigenous Canadians spent more time, on average, in pre-trial detention than non-Indigenous individuals.[14]
The Saskatoon freezing deaths, or Starlight Tours, are a series of mysterious deaths of Indigenous Canadians. One of the more publicized incidents occurred in November 1990, the body of Neil Stonechild, a Saulteaux First Nations teenage boy, was discovered in a field outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[15] Stonechild's cause of death was determined to be hypothermia.[16] Witness Jason Roy reported to have last seen Stonechild in the back seat of a Saskatoon Police cruiser, stating that Stonechild was visibly bloodied and yelling for help.[16]
On the night of January 28, 2000, Darrell Night, a member of Cree Nation, was taken into a police vehicle by two white Saskatoon Police officers.[17] The officers removed Night from the vehicle about five kilometers outside of Saskatoon, forced his head onto the hood of the car, removed his handcuffs, and drove away.[17] Night was dressed in a tee shirt and denim jacket, with temperatures reaching as low as -22°C.[18] Night was able to walk to the Queen Elizabeth power station, at which a point a watchman let him inside the station.[17]
At least five bodies of Indigenous men have been found frozen in this area outside of Saskatoon.[17] Two of these men, Rodney Niastus and Lawrence Wegner, died a decade after Stonechild, around when Night survived his dumping.[11]
In spite of claims by the Saskatoon Police Service that the incident with Darrell Night was isolated, Saskatoon Police Chief Russell Sabo admitted in June 2003 that a Saskatoon Police officer was disciplined in 1976 for dumping an Indigenous woman outside of Saskatoon.[19]
Strip searches of Inuit women in Nunavut
Inuit women have come forward with allegations of police misconduct against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). On June 13, 2019, Benson Cowan, Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Services Board of Nunavut, sent a letter to Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, requesting a review of the police force in Nunavut.[20] A follow-up letter was sent on January 23, 2020, detailing two occurrences of strip searching performed on Inuit women by the Nunavut RCMP.[20] The first involved a woman detained for assault and public intoxication in September 1019.[20] According to the second letter sent to Michelaine Lahaie, the woman was overpowered by three male RCMP officers and stripped against her will while being pressed face-down onto the floor of her holding cell.[20] The officers left her on the ground after the strip search was complete with a mere "suicide gown" draped over her body.[20] The woman then crawled towards her cell door before losing consciousness.[20] In the second incident, a woman was arrested in October 2019 for assault and mischief.[20] The woman was informed that she was required to wear a "suicide gown" as per RCMP policy, but refused.[20] As a result, the woman was forced to walk from the shower to her cell naked, and after a strip search was conducted, she was left in her cell naked.[20] The letter cites video footage that allegedly shows the woman was not resisting police and maintained control of her body without showing visible signs of suicidal or violent ideation.[20]
R. v. Golden, a 2001 Canadian Supreme Court case, set guidelines for constitutional strip search procedures in Canada that are in line with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[21][22] This case decided that strip searches are inherently degrading and humiliating.[21] The Legal Services Board of Nunavut alleges that the RCMP officers who performed these two occurrences of strip searching were not in compliance with those guidelines.[20]
On March 10, 2020, police vehicle camera footage was captured of Chief Allan Adam of Fort Chipewyan First Nation being tackled to the ground by an RCMP officer.[23] Police had originally approached Adam's vehicle due to an allegedly expired license plate.[23] The RCMP initially declined to publicly release the video footage, but were required to do so after a court order and the video was published June 11, 2020.[23] The officer who tackled Adam allegedly punched him in the head and applied a chokehold once he was on the ground.[23] Adam was later charged with resisting arrest and unlawful assault of a police officer.[23] These charges were later dropped.[24] Adam's wife, Freda Courtoreille, can be seen in the video being restrained briefly by an RCMP officer.[23] Courtoreille was arrested for obstruction as a result of the incident, although charges were never successfully pressed.[23]
Chantel Moore, a member of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, was shot and killed in her apartment during a wellness check on June 4, 2020, in New Brunswick.[25] Edmundston police were contacted by Moore's ex-boyfriend following messages sent from Moore's Facebook account suggesting that someone was watching Moore sleep.[26] Moore had been drinking with friends earlier in the evening.[26] Police officers at the scene alleged that Moore was wielding a knife and threatening the officers.[25] The Public Prosecutions Service of New Brunswick, in a news release, stated that criminal charges were not warranted against the officer who shot and killed Moore and that none would be pursued.[27]
Inspector Steve Robinson was accused of smiling and laughing while speaking with a news reporter regarding Moore's death.[28] Robinson was mandated to take an online course on Indigenous Canada, offered through the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.[28]
Shooting death of Rodney Levi
Rodney Levi, a member of Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation on the Miramichi River, was shot and killed by the RCMP on June 12, 2020, in New Brunswick.[29] Police received a complaint regarding a disturbance in a home involving an unwanted individual in possession of knives but with no injuries to anyone involved at that point.[30] The individual in question was identified as Levi, who confirmed to Constable Scott Hait on the scene that he wished to harm himself.[30] Levi informed Hait that he has found the knives on the side of the road.[30] Hait, along with Contable Justin Napke, told Levi to drop the knives but he refused.[30] Napke attempted to electroshock Levi by deploying a taser three times, none of which caused Levi to drop the knives. Hait told a coroner's inquest jury into Levi's death that Levi said, "You're going to have to put a bullet in me."[30] Hait attested that Levi then began to advance towards him, causing him to fire two shots in a range between three and five feet .
On October 5, 2021, forensic suicidologist Greg Zed testified at the coroner's inquest that the incident was a case of suicide by cop.[31] Becky Levi, Levi's niece, informed reporters after Zed's testimony that she did not believe Zed's theory fit her uncle's experience.[31] After hearing from 27 witnesses, the inquest resulted in Levi's death being ruled a homicide.[32] The five-member jury released a set of recommendations under three categories: Recommendations for Aboriginal Policing, Recommendations for Mental Health Services, and Recommendations for RCMP.[32]
Shooting death of Julian Jones
Julian Jones, a Tla-o-qui-aht man, was shot and killed by Tofino RCMP on February 27, 2021.[33] On the evening of the shooting, two officers arrived at home in Opitsaht in search of a woman believed to be held against her will.[33][34] Jones was shot and killed, another man was taken into police custody, and the woman for whom the officers were searching was transported to a hospital for a medical assessment.[33]
An Indigenous civilian monitor was selected to review a report completed by British Columbia's police watchdog on the shooting death of Jones.[34] Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Thomas George was granted full access to the report.[34] This was the first decision of its kind to allow an Indigenous civilian monitor to review a case report of this nature.[34] Independent civilian oversight of British Columbia police is managed by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO).[34] The IIO stated that this move was meant to aid in bettering trust between the office and Indigenous peoples in Canada.[34]
Shooting of a Tla-o-qui-aht woman in Port Albion
A Tla-o-qui-aht woman was shot multiple times by the RCMP on May 8, 2021.[35] Police responded to a domestic disturbance at a home in Port Albion.[35] The woman was reportedly holding a replica gun and was left badly injured from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted by officers on the scene.[35] The Secretary-Treasurer of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Judy Wilson informed The Canadian Press that the victim is a mother of two and suffered gunshot wounds to her spine.[35] Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Chief Moses Martin revealed through a joint statement with the First Nations Leadership Council on May 11, 2021, that the woman was in critical condition.[36]
Following the deaths of Chantel Moore and Julian Jones, this incident marked the third shooting of a Tla-o-qui-aht individual by the RCMP in the span of eleven months.[36]
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, commonly known in English as the Mounties, is the federal and national police service of Canada. As police services are the constitutional responsibility of provinces and territories of Canada, the RCMP's primary responsibility is the enforcement of federal criminal law, and sworn members of the RCMP have jurisdiction as a peace officer in all provinces and territories of Canada. However, the service also provides police services under contract to eight of Canada's provinces, all three of Canada's territories, more than 150 municipalities, and 600 Indigenous communities. In addition to enforcing federal legislation and delivering local police services under contract, the RCMP is responsible for border integrity; overseeing Canadian peacekeeping missions involving police; managing the Canadian Firearms Program, which licenses and registers firearms and their owners; and the Canadian Police College, which provides police training to Canadian and international police services. Despite its name, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are no longer an actual mounted police service, and horses are only used at ceremonial events.
The Elsipogtog First Nation, formerly called the Big Cove Band, is a Miꞌkmaq First Nations band government in New Brunswick, Canada. The First Nation's territory comprises Richibucto Reserve #15, lying 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) southwest of Five Rivers, New Brunswick on the Richibucto River off of Route 116. It also comprises Soegao Reserve #35, lying 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of Moncton, New Brunswick. As of April 2023, the registered Elsipogtog population is 3,574, with 2,736 living on reservations and 798 living off reservations.
The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations are a Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation in Canada. They live on ten reserves along the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The band is part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council. There were 618 people living in the Tla-o-qui-aht reserves in 1995. Their primary economic activities are fishing and tourism.
The Winnipeg Police Service is the police force of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Indigenous police services in Canada are police forces under the control of a First Nation or Inuit government.
Neil Stonechild was a Saulteaux First Nations teenager who died of hypothermia shortly after he was picked up by the Saskatoon Police Service. There were accusations that the police service had taken him to the northwest section of the city and abandoned him in a field on a night when temperatures were below −28 °C (−18 °F). The practice is known as a starlight tour, and a number of such cases in the Saskatoon area have been referred to collectively as the Saskatoon freezing deaths.
Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contrast to the United States or Mexico, and with the exception of the Unité permanente anticorruption in Quebec and the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia, there are no organizations dedicated exclusively to the investigation of criminal activity in Canada. Criminal investigations are instead conducted by police services, which maintain specialized criminal investigation units in addition to their mandate for emergency response and general community safety.
The Highway of Tears is a 719-kilometre (447 mi) corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada, which has been the location of crimes against many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) beginning in 1970. The phrase was coined during a vigil held in Terrace, British Columbia in 1998, by Florence Naziel, who was thinking of the victims' families crying over their loved ones. There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims.
Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is the municipal police service in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It holds both municipal and provincial jurisdiction. Police Chief Troy Cooper is the head of the service. The deputy chief is Deputy Chief Cam McBride (Operations). The SPS operates in partnership and cooperation with the Corman Park Police Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The Saskatoon freezing deaths involved Indigenous Canadians in and immediately outside Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the 1990s and continue to this day, and are suspected of being linked to actions by the members of the Saskatoon Police Service. The police officers would arrest Indigenous people, who were usually male, for alleged drunkenness and/or disorderly behaviour, sometimes without cause. The officers would then drive them to the outskirts of the city at night in the winter, and abandon them, leaving them stranded in sub-zero temperatures.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is an epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the FNIM and Native American communities, and a grassroots movement to raise awareness of MMIW through organizing marches; building databases of the missing; holding local community, city council, and tribal council meetings; and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police.
Colten Boushie was a 22-year-old Indigenous man of the Cree Red Pheasant First Nation who was fatally shot on a rural Saskatchewan farm by its owner, Gerald Stanley. Stanley stood trial for second-degree murder and for a lesser charge of manslaughter, but was ultimately acquitted in February 2018.
The Davies Commission Inquiry or Davies Commission Inquiry into the Death of Frank Paul was an inquiry under Commissioner William H. Davies a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (BCSC), Canada. The final report was submitted in May 2011.
Lisa Marie Young was a 21-year-old Indigenous Canadian who disappeared from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada on June 30, 2002. She had attended a local nightclub and two house parties, before accepting a ride to a fast-food restaurant, from a man she had just met. Although Young has never been found, her disappearance is being investigated as a homicide.
On June 4, 2020, Chantel Moore, an Indigenous Canadian woman, was shot and killed by Constable Jeremy Son of the Edmundston, New Brunswick police, who were called to perform a wellness check on her. Moore's death drew national attention and outrage. However, New Brunswick’s public prosecution service said it found Son's actions to be reasonable in the circumstances and he was not charged with any crime.
Dawn Dumont is the pen name of Dawn Marie Walker, a Plains Cree writer, former lawyer, comedian and journalist from the Okanese First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2022, she became the subject of nation wide attention when she was the subject of multiple criminal investigations across the United States and Canada after allegedly kidnapping her seven-year-old son and faking their death and disappearances.
On September 4, 2022, Myles Sanderson killed 11 and injured 18 people in a mass stabbing at 13 locations on the James Smith Cree Nation and in Weldon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Some of the victims are believed to have been targeted, while others were randomly attacked. It is one of the deadliest massacres in Canadian history.
↑ Council of Canadian Academies (2019). Toward Peace, Harmony, and Well-Being: Policing in Indigenous Communities. Ottawa, ON, Canada. ISBN978-1-926522-58-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Tator, Carol; Henry, Frances (2006). Racial Profiling in Canada: Challenging the Myth of 'a Few Bad Apples'. University of Toronto Press. ISBN978-0802087140.
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