Anniversary of land claims agreement sparks calls for Nunavik police reform

The anniversary of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement for most is a day of celebration.

But this year's event, marking 49 years since the signing of that treaty, was overshadowed by the fatal police shooting in Salluit last week. 

Hundreds of people gathered across Nunavik on Monday to pay tribute to Joshua Papigatuk, who was killed during that confrontation. 

Quebec's police watchdog, Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), is still investigating that shooting, and will not release any more findings before the end of its investigation. It's the 15th police-related death in Nunavik since 2017. 

The agreement was Canada's first modern Indigenous land claims treaty. It heralded a new era for Nunavimmiut to get more self-governance, including in policing. 

Charlie Watt was one of the negotiators. 

"Our vision back then was for the Inuit to take complete control over the police force, in other words running the police and become police themselves," he said.

He believes the JBNQA isn't being properly implemented in numerous areas — not just in policing. 

"The government of Quebec is trying to dictate to us what we should be doing and how we should be handling our life," he said.

"Inuit need to have to have their own governance in order to be able to make changes and positive changes to their life … to be able to make laws."

'Significant changes' to policing in Nunavik from agreement

According to Nunavik Police Service's website, the 1975 signing of the JBNQA brought significant changes in Nunavik. 

"An agreement was made between the Sûreté du Québec and the First Nations to implement an Aboriginal police program," it said. 

Inuit who completed the program became special constables. 

That police division then transitioned to the Kativik Regional Police Force in 1995, providing the police service full autonomy. It was rebranded to the Nunavik Police Service in 2021 — the name the region's police bears today.

Justice advocate Suzy Kauki, who's based in Kuujjuaq, remembers seeing far more Inuit officers on the streets as a young girl.

According to data from the police service, three of 79 officers were Inuit in 2018. 

As of September 2024, only two of 125 NPS officers were Inuit.

She believes that's a result of "how hard it is to be a police officer in your own community and be confronted with all the trauma we have."

"The decline of Inuit in that model is because of administrative systems failing to follow the ethnic agreement of our modern treaty," Kauki said.

Western policing model, rather than Inuit

Mylène Jaccoud is a professor of criminology at Université de Montréal, and was in charge of Indigenous policing issues in the Viens Commission inquiry. That was launched in 2016 by the former provincial Liberal government after allegations of police misconduct against Indigenous women. 

Jaccoud said the NPS isn't as autonomous as many had hoped for, even with oversight from the Kativik Regional Government, the regional authority over most of Nunavik. 

Firstly, she said police officers come largely from outside of Nunavik, fresh out of the national policing school in Quebec.

"I think this is the one of the biggest problems that we have in the North, people coming up very young and trying to enforce the law," she said.

She also appreciates that new recruits can feel isolated in these small communities, which is why she said staff retention and adequate cultural training is vital.

Ultimately, she said the problem can't be solved by simply throwing more money at the issue. 

During the Viens Commission inquiry, she tried to recommend a new way of policing — one that allows Indigenous communities to run their own policing. 

"It's not about the ability to deal with the budget and financial resources … you just end up with the power of dealing with bad resources," she said. 

"We should implement another model of policing … in the Aboriginal mentality and cultural mind of Aboriginal people." 

For Charlie Watt, that is the true meaning of self-determination. 

"We have a constitutional right to exist," he said, pointing to Section 35 of the Constitution which reaffirms the existing Indigenous and treaty rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

"That needs to be respected."

Pairing social workers with police in Puvirnituq

One current model of policing Jaccoud said is the Saqijuq program, which means "a change in wind direction" in Inuktitut.

In particular, Jaccoud points to their mobile intervention teams in Puvirnituq, which she believes can help build trust with police. 

Saqijuq board member Minnie Grey said there are two teams, pairing one police officer with a social worker. The teams respond to most calls for police assistance, which aren't dangerous criminal incidents in nature. 

"It's a really good way of interacting and getting to know people on a personal level, instead of being seen as an outsider that comes in and intervenes in criminal activities," she said. 

Grey believes Saqijuq can fit into the wider discussion of self-determination for Inuit.

"It pushes us to take things into our own hands and do things the way we see fit … without having to depend on outside influences."