First Nation launches legal challenge for equitable police funding, citing lack of resources, control over budgets – National Observer
December 6th 2022
Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (KZA), otherwise known as Gull Bay First Nation, has launched a legal challenge against Canada over inequitable funding of its police service. And Chief Wilfred King notes his nation has won every court case it’s ever fought.
King travelled to Parliament with lawyer Chantelle Bryson Monday to announce the legal challenge. The lawsuit states Canada is not meeting its fiduciary and other legal obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and Section 35 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which pertains to Indigenous rights and title.
KZA, which sits 250 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., has only three police officers on staff, one of whom is on leave.
KZA officers lack a dedicated station and professional equipment like radios, and often work with no backup when responding to calls in the community, Bryson said.
