Pic Mobert First Nation in northwestern Ontario declares state of emergency over gang activity
Sarah Law | CBC News | Posted: November 19, 2024 6:13 PM | Last Updated: November 20
Members 'feeling scared, abandoned, and unsafe – even in their own homes'
A First Nation in northwestern Ontario had declared a state of emergency over escalating safety concerns around gang activity.
On Tuesday, leaders from Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg First Nation – also known as Pic Mobert First Nation – held a press conference at Queen's Park to demand more support for what they're calling "a crisis in violence, organized crime, addiction and mental health."
"A series of violent incidents, inhumane delays in emergency response, and the unchecked presence of organized crime have left our citizens feeling scared, abandoned, and unsafe – even in their own homes.
"This is not an isolated or temporary situation. It is becoming the new normal," Chief Louis Kwissiwa said in a news release issued Tuesday morning.
Between 350 and 400 people live in the Ojibwe community, which consists of two reserve lands located off Highway 17 along White Lake. The First Nation is about 55 kilometres east of the town of Marathon.
Pic Mobert is served by the Anishinabek Police Service and Marathon detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
Chief Kwissiwa told CBC's Up North on Tuesday that they declared the state of emergency because people feel unsafe in the community, "There's a lot of mental health issues. There's a social issues, there's addictions. With all of that, people are feeling really insecure. It's the lack of policing, it heightens the crime, the organized crime, the human trafficking, you name it, all of that, it heightens.
He said they are asking the province for a commitment to adequate police funding. "We have a plan in place. We're not asking them to fix it for us. We're asking them to help us fix it, to assist us with our plan that we have."
On Wednesday, Chief Jeff Skye of the Anishinabek Police Service told CBC's Jonathan Pinto that the force has been challenged with a lack of funding for decades.
"I feel sometimes hopeless trying to protect our communities from outside influences when we don't have the proper staff to police our communities," Skye said.
Not enough police officers in the area
A lack of police officers, and the distances they must travel to Pic Mobert, are one of the main issues when it comes to delayed response times, explained Paul Michtics, director of community safety for Pic Mobert and a retired OPP officer, during Tuesday's press conference.
"Police patrols and presence for [less] than half of each month in our community is insufficient, and a stark contrast to the levels of service that other towns receive in the province of Ontario," Michtics said.
"We need to stop drug trafficking, violent crimes, weapons and illicit drug use. We need a police service that is present in the community, enforcing our local laws to disrupt and prevent these violent activities."
The First Nation has four dedicated officers and wants to see that at least doubled, he said.
Sgt. Cam Ducharme, detachment commander of the Marathon OPP, told CBC News in an email, that while the Anishinabek Police Service primarily serves Pic Mobert, "the OPP provides support to First Nation police services with general law enforcement and investigative resources as requested."
"The OPP is committed to providing adequate and effective policing to promote ongoing public safety in communities across Ontario and supports the provision of adequate resources to ensure effective policing options for First Nations," Ducharme said.
Lack of funding for First Nations policing
Chief Jeff Skye of the Anishinabek Police Servicesaid the funding challenges have gone on for decades.
Last year, the service was granted a funding extension along with the Treaty Three Police and UCCM Anishnaabe Police Service through a federal court ruling. Meanwhile, Skye is part of an ongoing human rights complaint about the way First Nations police agencies are funded.
The Anishinabek Police Service receives 52 per cent of its funding from Public Safety Canada and 48 per cent from the province, "but to provide 24-7 policing to a community that's remote in northern Ontario, just between the Marathon and White River, it's very difficult to provide that policing with only four officers," Skye said.
While drug trafficking is a problem in all 16 First Nations the force serves, Pic Mobert is more vulnerable to outside influences due to its remoteness, he explained.
"It's very frustrating for me as a chief to have this same conversation over and over and over for the past three decades."
"It's very frustrating for me as a chief to have this same conversation over and over and over for the past three decades." - Chief Jeff Skye, Anishinabek Police Service
Millions in debt from private security services
Pic Mobert First Nation says it's accrued about $5 million in debt from installing security cameras, license plate readers, and retaining external emergency security services.
"Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg has taken many steps to address this crisis internally, but their capacity is finite – they have strained their community resources and incurred millions in debt, and more action continues to be urgently needed," said Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, critic for Indigenous and treaty relations, in a news release Tuesday.
"Once again, we are seeing a First Nation in Ontario in crisis because the government does not hold public safety in First Nations to the same standard as anywhere else in the province."
At a separate news conference Tuesday morning, Ontario's Solicitor General, Michael Kerzner, answered a question about Pic Mobert's state of emergency declaration.
"What I can tell you is this: our commitment to public safety in the four corners of this province is completely unwavering — whether that's a municipal police force … whether it is the OPP … or whether it is the First Nations police services," said Kerzner, who said he would be briefed on the situation later in the day.
"We will leave no stone unturned in saying that our message of public safety is absolute and constant, and we will do what we need to do to ensure this is the case."
Elsewhere in northwestern Ontario, Fort William First Nation, which neighbours Thunder Bay, declared state of emergency in July over the community's ongoing drug epidemic.