Families are calling for an investigation after nine indigenous people were killed in police operations

OTTAWA – A group of Black and Indigenous women says they want a nationwide public inquiry into a recent spate of deaths at the hands of police after nine Indigenous people were killed during interactions with police in August and September.

About two dozen people gathered on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, including the families of eight people who died.

The families say it is difficult to accept responsibility and justice for the deaths of their loved ones and that concrete actions must be taken to address police brutality and offer support and resources to those affected.

Laura Holland, a Wet’suwet’en woman and mother of Jared Lowndes, said police killings are an emergency for Indigenous peoples.

“We are being killed in the streets, in our homes, everywhere, and no one says anything,” she said, adding that it was impossible to get justice for her son’s death.

“When the police kill one member of your family, they kill your entire family.”

Lowndes was shot and killed by RCMP in 2021. British Columbia’s police watchdog recommended that the Crown consider charges against the officers involved in his killing, but the provincial prosecutor’s office decided not to charge them last April.

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree previously said the recent series of deaths was concerning and he called on police to ensure accountability and build trust.

“We need to work with Indigenous partners. We have a responsibility to advance Indigenous-led solutions that address the needs of communities and ensure their safety,” he said in a statement on social media.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for Anandasangaree’s office said the department would support what communities want and need to address the issue.

A similar call for a police investigation was made last week when the Assembly of First Nations met in Calgary.

At that meeting, Blood Tribe Chief Roy Fox spoke on behalf of member Jon Wells and his family, calling for a public inquiry into his death.

“We have not received any support or sign of compassion from either the provincial government or the federal government,” Fox told those attending the meeting.

Last month, MPs also held an emergency debate about the deaths, with NDP MP Lori Idlout calling it a “disturbing pattern.”

In a letter to House Speaker Greg Fergus requesting the debate, Idlout criticized what she described as a lack of media coverage of the issue and the government’s inaction in passing legislation on First Nations policing.

“As parliamentarians, it is up to us to show leadership and take responsibility for holding our institutions to account. People across Canada need to know that their Parliament is addressing institutional violence in their communities as a critical and immediate priority,” she wrote.

“There is a clear, urgent interest for Parliament to discuss this disturbing pattern so that MPs can discuss today the emergency measures that can be taken to save Indigenous lives.”

Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said the deaths are evidence of systemic problems across the country. She demanded police accountability through independent investigations into each death.

“We have seen time and time again the consequences of law enforcement’s failure to use de-escalation techniques and culturally informed practices,” she said in a statement last month.

“We will continue to demand action to address these failures and expect full transparency in cases where lives have been needlessly lost.”

Families gathered in Ottawa on Tuesday said any potential investigation would need to be Indigenous-led and include national data. They also said that no federal ministers or opposition parties had agreed to meet with them to discuss the matter.

“This is also an invitation for the federal government to publicly reckon with the statistics that are often obscured,” said Meenakshi Mannoe, a community organizer with the Defund 604 Network.

“As Laura Holland mentioned, this violence against Black and Indigenous people is actually fundamental to Canada and part of the existence of this state. The state exists because Indigenous people are under constant threat of police killings and deaths at the hands of police.”

The Canadian Press