Chief Of Anishinabek Police Services Jeff Skye is joined by UCCM Anishnaabe Chief of Police James Killeen, left, and Treaty Three Police Chief Kai Liu as he speaks at a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, June 12, 2023. A lawyer with the Assembly of First Nations says including the recognition of their rights in legislation declaring First Nations policing an essential service is one of the "sticking" points in negotiations with Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

By The Canadian Press

FIRST NATIONS POLICING

Recognition of First Nations rights a ‘sticking’ point in new policing law plan: AFN

Jul 12, 2023 | 12:30 PM

A lawyer for the Assembly of First Nations says including the recognition of rights is a “sticking” point as the organization negotiates a new policing bill with Ottawa.

Julie McGregor updated chiefs gathered in Halifax today on work to develop a law that would declare policing on First Nations an essential service.

She told the organization’s general assembly the Department of Public Safety recently said it does not have a mandate to include full recognition of First Nations rights in the proposed legislation.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised that his government would bring forward a new law in 2020.

Calls for its introduction were amplified last year after 11 people were stabbed and killed in James Smith Cree Nation and the nearby community of Weldon, Sask., where the RCMP was the police service of jurisdiction.

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Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said last year that he hoped to table a bill by the fall, but nothing was introduced before MPs broke for a summer recess in June.

READ MORE: ‘We can do better’: Public Safety Minister talks First Nations policing during visit to Sask.