Swan Lake chief praises police funding

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This article was published 02/09/2022 (1269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Funding given by the province to Manitoba First Nations Police Service will provide much-needed tools to combat crime in Swan Lake First Nation, the community’s chief says.

“It’s a wonderful announcement,” Chief Jason Daniels told the Sun. “It’s welcome funding that can be used for training, software, equipment and services to First Nations communities.”

The $155,100 investment comes from the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund, which redirects money from the seizure and liquidation of criminal assets to police and community initiatives.

The funds announced Thursday will be spent on equipment and training that will “enhance human resource capacity, investigative capabilities and service delivery,” a press release stated.

“This funding will help the MFNPS enhance its ability to conduct its important work in the communities they are proud to serve, while contributing to the further modernization of our province’s criminal justice system,” Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said in the release.

More specifically, the money will be used for intoxilyzer/breathalyzer technician training, forensic analysis, drones, software and training for frontline staff, gang reduction strategies, drug- and crime-related investigations and to provide “integrated approaches” to interpersonal violence and abuse.

Daniels said he hopes there will also be a focus on restorative justice through sentencing circles, which are a community-based approach to justice where members of a community try to reach an appropriate sentence that satisfies everyone who was affected by a crime. The sentencing usually includes the accused, an elder, a judge, a Crown representative and a lawyer.

In Daniels’ experience, getting funding for police initiatives on his First Nation, which falls under MFNPS jurisdiction, hasn’t always been easy. He said this is especially true with the police detachment he’d like to see built in his community.

“There’s been some struggles between the feds and the provincial government in regard to funding for the detachment, so I believe Swan Lake First Nation will have to contribute some money for the development of a building,” he said.

“We’re trying to work together as a council to address the concerns we’re facing, such as illegal drug trade and usage in the community. It’s affecting our families, our children and our whole community.”

Swan Lake, located 135 kilometers southeast of Brandon, is developing a bylaw to deter illegal drug crimes, but no specifics have been determined yet.

“We will have another [meeting] on that at some point where the community will have a chance to say whether they support this bylaw … and if so, it will give the MFNPS some tools that are very much needed to curb this activity.”

Daniels’ frustration with funding was echoed by Goertzen who called on the federal government to provide more support to First Nations police in Manitoba. Currently, the province receives eight per cent of the total annual First Nations and Inuit Policing program funding, despite having the largest per-capita Indigenous population in Canada, according to a press release.

Additionally, 45 of the 63 First Nations in Manitoba do not currently have any dedicated in-community policing services under that funding.

Nonetheless, MFNPS Chief Doug Palson said Thursday’s investment will go “a long way” to supporting the force’s efforts toward community safety and well-being.

“Further, it represents a significant commitment on the part of Manitoba Justice towards the advancement of First Nations policing in our province as this funding will be dedicated to initiatives that otherwise would not be possible — at least, not this year,” Palson said in the press release.

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