Canada’s Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said today that Mi’kmaw fishermen in Nova Scotia have been “let down by police” following incidents of violence in the province’s southwest over the Sipekne’katik band’s lobster fishery.
“We must also recognize that once again, as evidenced by the scenes of violence, Indigenous people have been let down by the police, those who are sworn to protect them,” he told a news conference in Ottawa this morning.
“Throughout history, Indigenous peoples have experienced continuous discrimination and to this day still suffer the consequences of colonial practices, but they have shown an extreme resilience and courage in standing up for their rights.”
Miller was joined by Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.
The four Liberal cabinet ministers have joined the NDP in calling for an emergency debate in the House of Commons on the escalating conflict between commercial fishermen and Mi’kmaw fishers in southwestern Nova Scotia, which has become increasingly violent in the last week.
Two lobster facilities in southwest Nova Scotia were targeted and vandalized by commercial fishermen last week. One of the facilities, located in Middle West Pubnico, N.S., was destroyed in a Saturday blaze RCMP have deemed suspicious.
A Digby County, N.S., man has been arrested and charged in relation to an assault on Sipekne’katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack, and a Yarmouth County man has been charged with arson after a vehicle was torched outside a lobster facility in New Edinburgh.
The RCMP’s response to the violence has been met with criticism, with Chief Sack calling on the government to send the military instead.
NDP MP Charlie Angus, the party’s ethics critic, said the police’s response so far has been unacceptable.
“In the case of violence, intimidation and terrorist activities, the RCMP has done little to protect the rights of Indigenous people who are practising their treaty rights,” he said during a separate news conference Monday morning.
Blair said he doesn’t belive the situation needs a military response, and he has spoken to RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki about the force’s responsibility.
“The violence and harassment and intimidation that we have seen in Nova Scotia are completely unacceptable, cannot continue and must stop now,” he said Monday.
“The reckless violence and the racist threats we have seen do nothing to bring us closer to a resolution.”
Blair, whose portfolio includes the RCMP, agreed to a request from Nova Scotia’s attorney general over the weekend to boost the RCMP’s presence on land and on the water. That presence includes a number of Indigenous officers from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, he said.
“These officers are conducting supplemental uniform patrols to high risk areas maintaining a strong presence,” Blair said.
“I’ve spoken this morning and over the weekend to the RCMP commissioner, and she has assured me that she has the resources necessary to manage the situation on the ground and uphold the law.”
Blair said his government knows there is a need for significant reform to how police work in Indigenous communities.
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