A former tribal leader and Member of Parliament says he thinks police forces across Canada are getting more comfortable with Aboriginal policing.
Gary Merasty was the keynote speaker at this week’s meeting of police chiefs across Canada on the Membertou reserve in Nova Scotia.
Merasty says Aboriginal police forces are getting more prevalent in different regions of the country, including Saskatchewan.
At the same time, he thinks our province is starting to fall behind in certain areas:
“In the areas of sustainability of long-term initiatives of inter-agency co-operation, programs aimed at getting youth involved and youth awareness, and other justice-related programs and Aboriginal policing, specifically, we’re probably lagging slightly.”
Merasty adds this is the 107th year police chiefs across Canada have met to discuss mutual issues — but its the first time the event has been held on a First Nations reserve.
He thinks it’s a good sign that Aboriginal policing was one of the chiefs’ main priorities.