Strike averted for Nishnawbe Aski Police Service in northern Ontario

Officers with the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service have reached a tentative agreement with their employer.

The union representing officers, thePublic Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said the deal was reached after two days of meetings with a conciliator. Those meetings were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

Without a deal, the union would have beenin a legal strike or lock-out position as of Friday morning.

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"I am very proud of our bargaining team for all their work and to the officers who stood strong and lobbied their provincial and federal political representatives to fund First Nations policing effectively," said Sharon DeSouza, the union's Regional Executive Vice President for Ontario.

Nishawbe AskiPolice serve 35 First Nations in the most northern parts of Ontario.It'sfunded through the First Nations Policing Program. An auditor generals reportin 2014found the program is not adequately funded and not working as intended.

Officers still need to ratify the agreement. The union said ratification meetings will be set up in the coming days. Details of the deal haven't been made public.

One of the major issues included having at least two officers stationed in each NAPS served community.

Another issuewas upgrades to the telecommunication systems used by officers.