First Nations leaders step up calls for external oversight of troubled Thunder Bay, Ont., police service

A growing number of First Nations leaders are seeking external oversight of the Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) as the northwestern Ontario force is in turmoil and pressure mounts on its leadership and oversight board.

Community and regional leaders haven't settled on one clear action or direction that should be taken to deal with the troubled police force. But the consensus among those who spoke to CBC News is they don't trust the force to serve Indigenous people.

"The Anishinabek Nation is appalled at how policing is handled in Thunder Bay," Melvin Hardy, the Northern Superior Region deputy grand chief for the Anishinabek Nation, which advocates for 39 First Nations in the province, including those within the Robinson-Superior Treaty.

Indigenous] people who visit and live in the city "deserve to feel safe," said Hardy. "They will not be if they feel unfairly targeted or systemically ignored when a crime is committed against them."

Hardy told CBC News he's calling for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to provide external oversight of Thunder Bay policing services pending further conversation and action.

Two weeks ago, Sol Mamakwa, the provincial NDP critic for Indigenous and treaty relations and MPP for Kiiwetinoong in northern Ontario, demanded OPP oversight of the TBPS. As well, Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Deputy Grand Chief Anna Betty Achneepineskum has called for the Thunder Bay police service to be disbanded.

WATCH | Sol Mamakwa speaks in the Ontario Legislature:

Their demands came in the wake of a confidential report for Ontario's attorney general.

The final report by a blended investigative team that spent years looking through TBPS sudden death investigations was leaked to some news organizations, including CBC News, and recommended the reinvestigations of more sudden deaths of Indigenous people.

Other leaders and organizations, including the chief of the First Nation located directly beside Thunder Bay and the Assembly of First Nations, say they too want to see more Indigenous and external oversight of city police.

The report details serious concerns with the investigations of 14 Indigenous people who died suddenly in the city between 2006 and 2019, and calls for reinvestigation of those cases.

Two other cases, with similar investigative concerns, should go for a coroner review or inquest, and another 25 unresolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in Thunder Bay should be reviewed, the investigators urged.

That adds up to at least 41 cases, and there could be more.

The report, which has been with the attorney general since March 2, begins with the disclaimer: "Due to finite timelines and resources allocated to the process outlined in this report, cases provided here are not an exhaustive list," adding there may be other sudden death cases that "warrant further investigation." It ends with the recommendation for an external audit of all death investigations in the police department's record management system.