NDP MP says action needed now to 'save Indigenous people's lives' after 6 killings by police

After Monday's emergency debate in Parliament about the killings of six First Nations people by police over a two-week span, an NDP MP says the time for talking is over. 

Nunavut MP Lori Idlout said she thought there were some productive ideas brought forward in the debate including better training in de-escalation for RCMP and more cultural competency, and now the government must act. 

"There needs to be a plan immediately tabled that shows how government will implement the MMIWG calls for justice as well as the TRC calls for action," Idlout said. 

The final report from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in 2019 made 231 calls for justice to address the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls. CBC News has reported that just two of those calls for justice have been completed. 

Similarly, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued its report in 2015, and 18 of its 94 calls to action were on justice. They included more funding for Indigenous healing lodges, reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons and recognizing Indigenous legal systems. 

So far, just one — holding a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls — has been completed.

"We don't need more promises. We don't need more research. We don't need more reports or studies. We need action to help save Indigenous people's lives," Idlout said.

She also criticized the federal government for making promises, like funding for First Nations policing, while taking years to bring legislation forward. 

"By making those promises, by bringing the hopes [up] of Indigenous peoples during campaign time, it really does hurt so much to people who will vote and then to see disappointment after disappointment," she said.

Reaction from government, leaders

In an emailed statement to CBC Indigenous, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said "time and again, we have witnessed the consequences of law enforcement's failure to employ de-escalation techniques and culturally informed practices."

The statement also demanded police accountability and an independent investigation of each death.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasagaree said he was "outraged" by the deaths.

"There's a real need to have accountability towards each one of those incidents that involved the death of individuals at the hands of police," said Anandasangaree.

When asked what the government would do to address the deaths, Anandasangaree said although the RCMP is Canada's national police service, it has contracts with provinces and territories to provide policing services.

"I'm not coming up with excuses here, but there is an actual reality of jurisdiction that we can't just necessarily say, 'We need to investigate,'" he said. 

Indigenous Services Canada Minister Patty Hajdu called the deaths "unacceptable." 

Hajdu said the situation illustrates a need to help people before they become "so distressed and so distraught that they find themselves in conflict with the police."

"It's very difficult to help someone in their 20s who is significantly affected by trauma and poverty and neglect and all of the things that contribute to someone being in such a state of distress," she added. 

To disrupt the cycle of poverty, Hajdu said the government is working on improving First Nations access to health care, clean water and addressing systemic racism.