Obedjiwan dismantles police service, SQ takes over

The AtikamekwFirst Nationof Obedjiwan in the Mauricie region has dismantled its police force, blamingQuebec for what the band council says is the government'sfailureto honour an agreement to help pay for it.

The band-run police force, which employed 22 officers topatrolthe reserve 200 kilometres west of Roberval, Que.,has been replaced by the Sret du Qubec.

The chief of the Obedjiwan band council,Christian Awashish, saidthe government failed to fulfill an agreement made last year to pay an extra $600,000to help keep the police force afloat.

"Negotiators from the Ministry of Public Security have once again undermined our confidence with broken promises," he said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Awashish saidthat the ministry offered the Obedjiwan council about a third of the promised funds, citing budget cutsas one of the reasons it could not offer the level of funding that had been promised.

"It seems that our community is not entitled, in the same way as other citizens of Quebec, to adequate and permanent police service to meet the real needs of people in the community," said Awashish.

He said the community hadno choice but to dismantle the police forceor face having todiginto the budgetforother essential services such ashousing, welfare and fire services.

A long struggle

Awashish saidthe police force in the community of 2,000 has been chronically underfunded for many years.

He said he first appealedto the province for more money in 2012.

Obedjiwan's police force receives $2.2 million annually throughthe 1991 federal First Nations policing program, a trilateral agreement which mandates that the cost of aboriginal policing be split between the provincial and federal governments.

The program was criticized by the auditor general in 2014, who said it lacked of transparency and led to a poor allocation of funds.

A 2015 study conducted by the Sret du Qubec concludedthe Obedjiwan police forcerequired between $2.6 million and$3.2 millionto operate.

'Women here are worried'

Awashish is concerned about the ability of the Sret du Qubec to adequately police his remote community.

He saidthe majority of people inObedjiwan speak Atikamekw, not French nor English, and he's concerned with SQ officers patrolling the reserve, there could be communication issues and incidents of culture clash.

The news that the indigenous police force is being dismantledalso comes just a day afterRadio-Canada's investigative program Enqute released a report in which aboriginal women across Quebec described suffering physical and sexual abuse at the hands of provincial police.

"Women here are worried, and men as well," said Awashishinaninterview with Radio-Canada's Michel Auger.

"Our police knew our area. The SQ doesn't have that experience with the area, with the language. In Obedjiwan, the other reality is that the social problems are high. So it's not easy."

Awashish saidhe will seek meetings with Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux and Premiere Philippe Couillard to discuss the issue.

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the Public Security Ministry said it regretsthe outcome of itsnegotiations withObedjiwan, adding that the safety of the community is the ministry'spriority.