NAN Calls for Expanded First Nations-Led Policing and Community Safety Model

THUNDER BAY, ON: Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler issued the following statement following today’s federal announcement highlighting Budget 2026 investments in First Nations policing and community safety:

“Across Nishnawbe Aski Nation, our First Nations are facing increasingly serious threats from violence, organized crime and illegal drug trafficking. Families are grieving the loss of loved ones, community members are living in fear, and our Chiefs are being forced to take extraordinary measures to protect their people.

We have witnessed tragic violence in communities such as North Spirit Lake First Nation. These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a growing crisis that requires a coordinated and sustained response.

I welcome today’s announcement by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Minister Patty Hajdu recognizing the need for greater investment in First Nations policing and community safety. These federal commitments are important, but we must ensure they translate into meaningful, lasting improvements for our communities.

More than 30 years ago, our Chiefs established the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service with a vision of a police service that would be uniquely ours. They did not want another version of the OPP or a municipal police service. They envisioned policing that would reflect our cultures, values, traditions and the realities of our communities.

We reached an important milestone in December 2024 when NAPS became Ontario’s first legislated Indigenous police service. This recognition brings essential policing standards and responsibilities, but it must also be supported by the resources needed to meet those standards. Our officers deserve safe detachments, reliable vehicles, proper equipment and communications systems, and the support they need to do their jobs.

But community safety is about much more than policing.

Our First Nations are already demonstrating extraordinary leadership in protecting their communities. Ginoogaming First Nation has been forced to divert approximately $1.6 million of its own-source resources into emergency community security measures and checkpoints in response to illegal drug trafficking and inadequate public-safety resources. Constance Lake and North Caribou Lake First Nations have also undertaken their own community safety initiatives, while other First Nations are developing local approaches to prevention, emergency response and security.

These emergency measures reflect the leadership and determination of our Chiefs and community members to protect their people when existing policing and public-safety arrangements have not met their needs. Their actions deserve recognition and immediate government support, but they must not be treated as a substitute for inadequately funded policing and public-safety services. Our First Nations should not be forced to divert their own limited own-source revenues to provide essential protections that governments have a responsibility to support.

I also welcome this week’s launch of the NAPS Border Control Pilot Program in five First Nations. This is an important initiative that brings together NAPS Special Constables and participating communities to help prevent illegal drugs from entering our territories.

But this cannot remain a temporary pilot available to only a handful of communities. We need to build on this work and establish a permanent, properly funded approach that can be expanded throughout NAN territory. Our communities have already shown the leadership and determination to protect their people. It is time to ensure they have the resources and support to succeed.”

NAN’s vision is for a broader First Nations-led policing and community safety model that brings together the professional policing services of NAPS with the community-based safety initiatives our First Nations are already developing. This must include prevention, local security, emergency response, addictions treatment, mental health services, healing and support for families.

Solutions must be developed in partnership with Chiefs and communities, respecting their authority, knowledge and priorities. We know our communities, we understand the challenges they face, and we must be at the centre of decisions about how our people are protected.

NAN is hopeful that today’s announcement provides an opportunity to move this work forward. We look forward to working with Canada, Ontario, NAPS and our communities to build on the vision of our Chiefs and develop a policing and community safety model that truly meets the needs of our people.

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