Ginoogaming First Nation Forced to Fund Its Own Safety as OPP Fails to Act

Ginoogaming First Nation, ON – Ginoogaming First Nation Chief Sheri Taylor and Council are demanding that the Ontario Provincial Police take full responsibility for the ongoing drug and crime crisis in their community. Today, Chief Taylor and Council are meeting with the OPP to confront the force’s failure to provide adequate enforcement and funding support.

“We are not simply asking for a meeting, we are demanding accountability,” said Chief Sheri Taylor. “We have been left to handle a crisis on our own while existing policing structures and jurisdictional barriers have failed to protect our community. The OPP has a responsibility to fund and provide the public safety services our community deserves – and we will not stop pushing until they do.”

On August 13, 2026, Chief Taylor and Council met with Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum, the NAN Justice Research and Policy Department, and NAN executive advisors to formally advance Ginoogaming’s public safety demands ahead of today’s meeting.

Since declaring a State of Emergency alongside Long Lake No. 58 First Nation on May 13, 2026, Ginoogaming has been forced to fund and operate its own public safety infrastructure – spending approximately $1 million out of pocket – because existing policing services have failed to act. Ginoogaming is currently served by both the Anishinabek Police Service (APS) and the Ontario Provincial Police. APS operates under the federal First Nations and Inuit Policing Program, which has not yet classified First Nation policing as an essential service, leaving communities like Ginoogaming without the level of enforcement and support they need and deserve. From June 22 to August 13, 2026 alone, community-funded checkpoint operations recorded:

• 22,226 vehicles processed – an average of 467.7 vehicles per day
• 27 drug-related seizure incidents, with at least 42 items seized or recovered
• 13 alcohol-related incidents and 16 open alcohol containers confiscated
• 1 weapon transferred to the OPP
• 102 incident records logged over 53 days

These figures represent the work Ginoogaming has been forced to do on its own. Chief Taylor and Council are calling on the OPP to provide the funding and enforcement resources necessary to sustain and expand these safety measures – including checkpoint operations, K9 handler services, nighttime surveillance, peacekeeper supports, and youth prevention and healing programs. Ginoogaming should not be bearing these costs alone, and the OPP must step up and fund the community safety response this crisis demands.

Background:

On May 13, 2026, Ginoogaming and Long Lake No. 58 First Nation issued a joint declaration of a State of Emergency due to the rising crime and violence trespassing into their communities. They called on the governments of Canada and Ontario to immediately provide the necessary interjurisdictional supports to protect and enforce the peace and public safety required on the ground, as the communities were facing increasing demands to take the next steps to enforce the policing and security by-laws on reserve. Comprehensive mental health, addictions and child-youth-elder focused treatment, recovery and aftercare plans were also requested. To date, few resources have been provided.

For more information, please contact: Adam Costa, acosta@nan.ca, 807-631-2364

For more information please contact:
Michael Heintzman,
Director of Communications
Cell: (807) 621-2790
mheintzman@nan.ca