Wolastoqey leaders call for changes to policing, including enforcement of banishment orders

Police and Public Trust, a project of the CBC News Atlantic investigative unit, scrutinizes the largely off-limits police complaint and discipline systems across the region. Journalists are using access to information laws and, in some cases, court challenges to obtain discipline records and data.

Wolastoqey leaders in New Brunswick are making a renewed call for the RCMP to change the way it polices their communities.

That includes enforcing band council resolutions, including those banishing people from communities, Chief Allan Polchies of Sitansisk, also known as St. Mary's First Nation, told CBC in an interview in October about the RCMP beginning to track complaints alleging bias by its employees across the country

Six Wolastoqey chiefs issued a letter earlier this year calling for police to enforce banishment orders following the death of Sheri Lynn Sabattis of Welamukotuk, also known as Oromocto First Nation.

The man charged with second-degree murder in Sabattis's death was banned from entering the community by the chief and council, according to the letter from the six chiefs.

Polchies said he met with then-premier Blaine Higgs and former public safety minister Kris Austin about the issue.

"It's very frustrating to go and to continue to speak about this issue, that can be easily resolved by having that political will to change the policies to ensure that they are policing and abiding by the band council resolutions on the bylaws."

The deaths of First Nations people during police interactions have also renewed calls for an Indigenous-led public inquiry into systemic racism in policing and the justice system in New Brunswick — something the former Higgs government refused to do.

Cpl. Hans Ouellette, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick RCMP, said the force has worked in the last several years to better connect with First Nations communities and understand their priorities.

When it comes to enforcing band council resolutions, Ouellette said the issue is complex. 

"There needs to be work done by the community, as well as in conjunction with the police and prosecutor services of New Brunswick, to be able to really put some legal framework around those types of [band council resolutions]," Ouellette said in an interview with CBC.

"Indigenous councils who want to have a certain person banished or want to have a certain [band council resolution] enforced by just sitting around a table and deciding that that's going to happen, there needs to be more than just that happening."

The RCMP say they plan to meet with First Nations and provincial representatives by the end of the year "on the expectations around enforcement."

New government promises response to report

Public Safety Minister Robert Gauvin was not made available for an interview about the issue of police in New Brunswick enforcing band council resolutions, and about what the government plans to implement from a 2022 report from former commissioner of systemic racism, Manju Varma.

One of Varma's main recommendations was the creation of a "task force focused on dismantling systemic racism in New Brunswick policing," which fell short of the public inquiry Indigenous leaders have called for.

In August, CBC filed an access to information request with the provincial government for a year's worth of records related to discussion around the creation of the task force recommended by Varma. The Department of Justice and Public Safety responded earlier this year by saying no such records exist, and the department is not aware of any task force created as a result of Varma's report.

The new Liberal government has promised to look at Varma's recommendations.

"Government has committed to immediately reviewing and responding to the Systemic Racism Commissioner's final report, and working on a timely plan to implement its recommendations," department spokesperson Allan Dearing wrote in a statement to CBC.

"The trust needs to be built there," Polchies said in an interview before the election. "And I would encourage the new minister that holds the portfolio around public safety to sit down, have engagements, have community engagements, hear the people's voices, understand the issues."

Three Indigenous people have been shot and killed by New Brunswick police officers since 2020, including two who died after interactions with RCMP officers.

The most recent was Steven (Iggy) Dedam, who was shot and killed by an RCMP officer in Elsipogtog First Nation in September, after concerns about his wellness. 

MTI reiterates need for Indigenous-led public inquiry

Mi'gmawe'l Tplu'taqnn Inc. (MTI), a non-profit organization representing nine Mi'kmaw communities, reiterated its call for a public inquiry into systemic racism in the justice system last month, after Dedam's death.

Earlier this year, the organization provided its own response to Varma's report. It called for increasing the public understanding of the problem, assessing the province's progress on implementing recommendations from previous commissions, inquiries and expert panels, and helping communities and the families begin to heal from losing loved ones.

A public inquiry could achieve all of that because it would have the legal authority to compel witnesses and collect missing data, the statement from MTI said.

"It is time for all the facts to be laid out," the organization wrote.

"After the delays and lack of action, we hope New Brunswickers will read this response and agree with us that change and improvements will only happen if there is an Indigenous-led public inquiry. This is the only way we will see a more equitable justice system for everyone."