First Nation issues state of emergency amid growing violence, asks Quebec police to step up

When the sun goes down in Long Point First Nation, Steven Polson says its community members stay inside.

Evening activities in the community of 500, located in Quebec's Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, have become few and far between as they say their emergency calls to police go unanswered for hours at a time.

"I have four daughters at home and I don't feel safe for them once the sky goes dark," said Polson, a community councillor. 

"It's affecting us really, really hard because there's no safety for our youth."

The situation has only deteriorated in the past four years, says Polson. Now, impaired driving, substance problems, vandalism, arson and break-ins are becoming more common, he says.

"All this changed due to the lack of patrolling," said Polson.

"We just phone and phone and phone and then they say, 'oh, we're on our way, we're on our way.' But yet again, they don't show up until the next day."

The community of more than 500 located 100 kilometres from the police station in Ville Marie, Que., near the Ontario border, issued a state of emergency Thursday — saying an absence of support from the Sûreté Québec (SQ) has forced their community to fend for themselves.

Chief Henry Rodgers says something has to change before the violence escalates.

Two months ago at a community meeting, he said residents came forward.

"They're feeling afraid to walk around and to be targeted when they try to do something," said Rodgers.

"I don't know how much the SQ is taking this situation seriously. I don't know what's holding them back at times."

Local rapid response team still in the works

Provincial police have serviced the community for nearly 20 years, but in 2021 the Quebec government announced a rapid response team initiative to patrol the Anishinaabe community which has advocated for its own force for years.

But three years later, Rodgers says that's still in progress and response from the government has slowed.

"That process is moving at a snail's pace," said Rodgers.

"We need to move forward with this. Positions need to be filled, people need to be hired and we need a budget to do that. However, we haven't received any budget as of yet."

Community hires four locals for night patrol

The situation is "worrying," says François Bonnardel, Quebec's minister of public security and Ian Lafrenière, the provincial minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit.

In a joint statement, the ministers said they are in contact with the community but have "confidence in the work of the police."

"We have an initial agreement with the communities of Winneway, Timiskaming and Kebaowek to enable Indigenous and SQ police officers to patrol together and intervene," read the statement.

Rodgers says he has yet to receive a call from Lafrenière as of Friday afternoon.

On Thursday evening, the community put in place four night watch patrollers, hired from within the community.

Patrolling from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., it's a temporary solution as leaders wait to meet with Quebec's ministers.

"The community is sort of taking the matters in its own hands," said Ghislain Picard, chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL)

"Obviously it cannot be a permanent solution."

He says community leaders find themselves in a situation with limited options as "Quebec or the SQ or both are not living up to their end of the bargain." 

Picard says this leaves the community vulnerable.

'Enough is enough,' says councillor

Polson says he's only seen provincial police patrol during the day.

"We just said enough is enough," said Polson.

"[People] know cops don't come around on evenings or nights or weekends. So they're just basically doing whatever they can."

The SQ works with nearby Indigenous police forces twice a week for 12 hours each day in Long Point First Nation, says police spokesperson Ann Mathieu.

"When it's outside those days, it's going to be SQ only that will go and patrol in the community," said Mathieu.

"We are always available for the people that need our intervention."

She says the seriousness of an emergency call impacts its priority. When officers are on the scene following incidents, she says sometimes locals are "not comfortable" talking to police.

"Sometimes people want to see the police around and when we're there, some people doesn't like to see us around," said Mathieu.

While there might be a perception of increased crime, she says they haven't had a spike in calls from Long Point First Nation over the past four years.

Chief Rodgers says the information he receives from his community would say otherwise.

Just last weekend, he says the community made a call to police over a case of arson. Rodgers says police only showed up 12 hours later, for an unrelated call.

Although he meets regularly with provincial police, he says residents still feel unheard.

"The feedback that I'm getting from the community members is that they're not being listened to," said Rodgers.

"Seeing that the SQ is falling short of their responsibilities, I'd like to see something done about this."