First Nations Police Service chief believed dead in fire

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This article was published 09/01/2025 (252 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A fatal residential fire in the RM of Portage la Prairie Wednesday morning is believed to have claimed the life of Manitoba First Nations Police Service Chief Doug Palson.

Portage la Prairie RCMP received a report of a structure fire at a residence off of Road 30 W in the municipality, located north of High Bluff, at 4:50 a.m. on Jan. 8. The residence was confirmed as belonging to Chief Palson.

RCMP, along with the Portage la Prairie Fire Department, responded to the scene. Once the fire was extinguished, investigators discovered human remains inside the home. In a press release issued late Wednesday evening, RCMP stated the identity of the deceased is yet to be confirmed.

However, in an earlier press release, Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council Police Commission chair Sherri Thomas said it’s believed that Palson died in the fire.

“Although the investigation is ongoing, we believe that Chief Palson was the victim of this tragic incident,” Thomas said, adding that the MFNP is working closely with the RCMP and Office of the Fire Commissioner.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Chief Palson’s family as they deal with this tragedy. We are also sharing in the grief and loss, which is being felt by the members of the Manitoba First Nations Police Service,” she said. “We are all connected as a united police family at this time. Chief Palson was a passionate leader who loved our police service and its members who serve our 10 First Nation communities with pride and respect.”

Palson, who started his law enforcement career in Brandon in 1988, was remembered by former Brandon police chief Wayne Balcaen, who worked with him as an officer in the Brandon Police Service. Balcaen, who now serves as Progressive Conservative MLA for Brandon West, said Palson was already part of the service when he first joined.

“He did a lot of work in our training division, and was also one of the first individuals to be part of our reformed tactical response unit,” Balcaen said Wednesday evening. “We rose through the ranks together, and both of us got promoted to the rank of staff sergeant in 2005.”

The two men shared an office for a few years as they were in charge of the patrol sections of the force, before Palson left Brandon to join the Dakota Ojibway Police Service.

Balcaen, who remained close friends with Palson over the years, said what struck him most about the man was his presence and demeanour.

“He spoke so softly, but he was very well educated, and very well respected in policing circles,” Balcaen said. “He was one of those people who would listen to what was being said, and then move very pragmatically.”

Balcaen said he will remember his friend’s smile “when you could get one out of him.”

“As with policing and friendship or acquaintance, and everything else, he was no nonsense and very straightforward, matter of fact, and to the point.”

Palson spent seven years as chief with the Dakota Ojibway Police Service, and spent another six years as chief of police with the Dryden Police Service in Ontario before returning to Manitoba as Chief of the Manitoba First Nations Police Service.

Palson, who was Métis, was recognized in 2016 for his committee work with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association with the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.

The award was created in 2000, to recognize exceptional service by Canadian police officers whose contributions have gone beyond protection of the community.

“That seven and a half years there were very good years, a lot of work, very good people to work with,” Palson told the Brandon Sun in a phone call from Ottawa that year before collecting his award at Rideau Hall.

Chief Palson was also the recipient of the Child Find Recognition Award, the Manitoba Excellence in Law Enforcement Award and the Governor General’s Officer Order of Merit Award.

Balcaen said he found it difficult to understand how a man who was doing such “great work” in police services could be struck down in the prime of his life.

“I feel for his wife and his son and daughter and extended families. They’re just going to be absolutely devastated, as many of our colleagues past and present are going to feel,” Balcaen said. “Policing is a family and you become family. You might bicker every now and then, but at the end of the day, you look after each other, and this is going to hit a lot of people very hard.”

Portage la Prairie RCMP, along with the Office of the Fire Commissioner and RCMP Forensic Identification Services, continue to investigate the cause of the house fire.

» mgoerzen@brandonsun.com, with files from the Winnipeg Free Press

» Bluesky: @mattgoerzen.bsky.social