The Chief of James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN) — the site of but one of the murders during the September 4, 2022 massacre — said a First Nations police service would have prevented the tragedy.
While Wally Burns waits for the federal government to table the legislation that would provide permanent First Nations police funding, he said he’s looking to bring in community safety officers to reassure members and to improve safety.
“Our community is willing and able to be comfortable with our own policing,” Burns told Global News.
Eight months after the attacks, he said the community is still recovering — that most people are able or willing to discuss what happened only now.
When the RCMP released the timeline of the stabbings last month, a senior officer said it took 40 minutes from when officers received the call at their homes, went to the Melfort, Sask. detachment (about 50 km away) to equip themselves and when they arrived — even though they were driving nearly 180 km/h.
In that time, Burns said, Myles Sanderson was able to continue his rampage and kill more people.
“Self-administered policing is more appropriate than having the RCMP come 20 minutes to an hour away,” he said.
Burns told Global News he’s requested funding from Ottawa for three officers and that he’s waiting on a response from the federal public safety minister Marco Mendicino.
A spokesperson for the minister said the government is working to “co-develop legislation that will recognize First Nations policing as an essential service.”
But they also said the work is ongoing and it is “too early to provide a specific date on which the legislation will be tabled.”
The statement described a complicated undertaking. Mendicino’s press secretary Audrey Champoux wrote that exact costs will be determined as the government and 426 Indigenous communities across the country agree to contracts.
“The specific structure of each First Nations police force remains to be seen, as communities will have the opportunity to pursue different models that meet their unique needs,” she wrote.
In the meantime, Burns said JSCN is looking to bring in community safety officers (CSOs).
Under updated provincial legislation, First Nations can choose to empower CSOs to enforce bylaws and band laws.
The chief of Whitecap Dakota First Nation, one of the two communities to take part in the pilot project, said it fills a vital role.
“All of our first nations in Canada, the RCMP, refuse to enforce any Indian Act bylaws or any of our local laws which could be self-governing law,” Chief Darcy Bear said.
“Every community actually needs public safety. We can’t have lawless communities.”
Whitecap Dakota does have an agreement with Ottawa and Regina where two RCMP officers live on band territory. Bear said the CSOs complement the officers.
But he also said having their own police service is a priority, noting Whitecap Dakota is working with its fellow bands in the Saskatoon Tribal Council toward that goal.
Chief Burns said he’s hopeful JSCN can have the CSOs by the end of the year, saying he hopes life at James Smith can return to normal soon.
“During the time of Sept. 4, people were locked up in their homes. They didn’t want to leave. Some were sleeping with shotguns, some were sleeping with bats,” Burns said.
“A lot of people are very hesitant to open their doors.”
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