Film shows NAPS working conditions

It was a year in the making.

January 24, 2008: Volume 35 #02

It was an unscripted film that wrote itself.

Its contents both frustrated and saddened her personally and professionally.

RoseAnne Archibald, filmmaker and Nishnawbe Aski Nation deputy grand chief, hopes it – the documentary she filmed, Nishnawbe Aski Police Service: A Sacred Calling – will create action to address issues facing NAPS.

The documentary compares First Nation police services and provincial police services in Ontario.

Archibald, together with NAPS Chief Paul Trivett and board chairman Mike Metatawabin, hosted the first public screening of the film during a news conference at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Jan. 16.

“As much as the film is a depiction of the realities of the working conditions of NAPS detachments, it’s equally a human story,” said Archibald, who produced and directed the film. “NAPS police officers heroically provide security and safety to NAN community members, often times when their own safety and basic life standards aren’t being met. The personal consequences to NAPS officers are complex and far-reaching.”

The film tells the tales of policing northern First Nations through the words and voices of the officers stationed in the communities.

Const. Robin Bannon spoke of dumping waste slop buckets Monday mornings at the detachment if there were people held in custody over a weekend. Those prisoners have to use pails as toilets.

She also led a tour of the Mishkeegogamang First Nation detachment and the OPP detachment in Pickle Lake, a short distance away.

The cleaning staff for the OPP appear to have more storage space for supplies than the NAPS detachment has total.

Seeing the film made NAN Grand Chief Stan Beardy question why there seems to be two standards of policing – one for First Nations and the other for everyone else.

“Our treaty partners Canada and Ontario are ultimately responsible not only for meeting the basic needs of NAPS officers, but also the fall-out when that’s not upheld, including a 2005 detachment fire in Kashechewan where two prisoners died and one NAPS officer was badly burned,” Beardy said.

“Why should we accept what other Canadians take for granted? (Police protection) is a basic universal human right.”

Sr. Const. Joe Angees shared the story of being the only officer to handle the call of his father’s untimely death. The elder Angees fell through the ice in Wunnumin Lake and drowned.

Joe co-ordinated the search, called on the OPP dive team and was on the scene when the team recovered his father’s frozen body.

Joe was on the verge of tears in the video recounting the story.

Archibald said Joe never should have been in that position.

If NAPS was funded the way it should be by both the provincial and federal governments, officers would not be working alone 75 per cent of the time, Archibald said.

Added Trivett: “No other police service in Ontario has the same infrastructure challenges as experienced by NAPS.”

He noted that the police service has been in negotiations to address these challenges with provincial and federal representatives since its 1994 inception.

“Even in isolated communities, municipal police services, the OPP and RCMP are provided with safe, quality facilities for their officers to work out of, while very few of the 35 NAPS detachments meet minimum national building code standards.”

According to the film, only one NAPS detachment actually meets those requirements. It’s the Moose Cree detachment, which community leaders had built at their own cost.

The film’s first screening was planned to raise awareness of the issues NAPS faces. With the Treasury Board of Canada expected to prepare a five-year budget plan by month’s end, it’s the right time to approach government about increased funding, Trivett said.

Trivett was grateful to Archibald for creating the film.

“I’m not a filmmaker. I’m not a negotiator. But I want things to change too,” he said.

During filming, Archibald visited 10 communities and interviewed 20 officers.

The next screening of the documentary is planned for February at Queen’s Park. A screening is also planned for Ottawa shortly.

The film is expected to be posted on the NAN website, www.nan.on.ca , and the NAPS website, www.naps-net.org .

A public Facebook group has been created for the film as well. It can be found at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7333218235&ref=mf .