Who should police the police?
Investigations into cops prompt questions
Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Monday, May 29, 2017
IQALUIT
With three recent RCMP-related deaths fresh in attendee's minds, a townhall meeting was held in Iqaluit May 23 to discuss options related to police oversight.
Organizer Thomas Rohner, left, with Tamara Fairchild of Maliiganik Tukisiiniakvik Legal Services, Senator Kim Pate and Mary Wilman, speaks of the current southern models for police oversight at a townhall meeting in Iqaluit May 23. - Michele LeTourneau/NNSL photo |
All three incidents -the deaths of a 39-year-old man in Hall Beach May 1, a 20-year-old in Pond Inlet in March, and a 21-year old man in Gjoa Haven in December - are being investigated by the Ottawa Police Service.
Addressing the full house at the Qayuqtuvik Food Centre, organizer Thomas Rohner said that's a closed model - when police investigate police but release only their conclusion, not the details of the investigation.
Rohner, a former reporter at Nunatsiaq News, wrote extensively about such police matters, often speaking to inmates themselves, or with those who allege misconduct.
"While covering those stories, the main issue that jumped out at me was how allegations of misconduct against Nunavut police are investigated. Or, when there's been a serious incident, like a death in a police interaction - how that's investigated," Rohner told Nunavut News/North.
It was while conducting research for these stories that Rohner found himself consulting Senator Kim Pate, a 35-year advocate for over-represented vulnerable populations in the criminal justice system.
Pate offered to come to Nunavut as a guest speaker at the townhall meeting.
"I think she has had a very profound effect on raising awareness of the very troubled interface between marginalized groups - abused women, aboriginal women, people with mental health problems in the jail system - and the Canadian justice system," said Rohner.
Rohner started off the meeting by listing five possible models currently used in various Canadian jurisdictions: police investigating police, internal; police investigating police, external; police investigating police, with civilian review and observation; police/civilian investigation, with civilian review; and civilians investigating police, with civilian review.
But Pate later said Nunavut was in a position to create a new way of doing police oversight more suited to the Inuit culture, rather than following in the footsteps of southern jurisdictions. She said the overlay of a southern criminal justice system atop Inuit society has already proven less than successful.
"How about a council of elders," she suggested, though throughout the evening Pate said the ideas and solutions should come from Inuit.
Rohner later asked elder Geetaloo Kakee what he thought of the idea. Through translator Elisapi Aningmiuq, he said elders had no knowledge of the system. He also likened it to the taxation system, which is beyond comprehension.
"In Nunavut, in Baffin, we (elders) have no knowledge of laws. As an example, we acknowledge it. It's like income tax. It's looked at twice, locally. We get all these documents. We don't know if they say we've done anything wrong or that it's good."
After saying Inuit had been told in the 1960s things would get better, then again in 1993 when Nunavut was created, Kakee asked, "What now?"
Pate said she'd spoken to a number of people from Nunavut before coming up, and asked for ideas.
"People talked about traditional means of dealing with issues, like banishment. There are times when people doing the work, shouldn't be doing the work anymore. And for me that's like the concept of banishment," she said.
She also suggested police whose behaviour has been found inadequate could be sent for mentoring.
Former Iqaluit mayor Mary Wilman, who also spent the evening as a volunteer interpreter, spoke up.
"I live here. I'm born and raised here. For almost 20 years now we've talked about these things. It's like a broken record to me. Twenty years ago, I was one of those facilitators when Iqaluit was changing to two levels of justice system. There were wonderful suggestions made at that time," she said, adding the police oversight is an very important topic.
"It's evident today that something is not working."
Throughout the evening, Pate made the point for compassionate funding - putting resources into mental health and wellness, and restorative justice, rather than the prison system.
Aningmiuq stepped out of her volunteer interpreter role and said a few words herself, making the point that existing criminal justice institutions are intimidating to Inuit.
"There is a lot of anger, a lot of revenge, there's a lot of misunderstanding in both - qallunaat and Inuit - so sometimes it's too late. They are drowning in their addictions and problems. If there is no dialogue for understanding, unfortunately, we're both going to stay stuck. For us, it's very intimidating to go to the correctional facility. It's very intimidating just to go to an office, sometimes, even a phone call."
In the legislature last fall, Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Paul Okalik questioned how the Ottawa police could be trusted to carry out such sensitive investigations in light of the situation with Ottawa Police Service member Sgt. Chris Hrnchiar, who made racist online comments about the death of Inuk artist Annie Pootoogook and was later demoted.
"Given this situation, it is obvious that the Ottawa Police Service can no longer be trusted to undertake independent and objective investigations into incidents that occur here in Nunavut," Okalik said to Justice Minister Keith Peterson.
"I understand there are some concerns about police investigating police," Peterson replied at the time. "I have asked the department to look at other options."
But Peterson also said he would not make that research public.
"I don't understand why that wouldn't be public," Rohner told News/North, adding he has since acquired that information and plans on posting it online.
