Pubdate: Fri, 22 Sep 2006
Source: Nunatsiaq News (CN NU)
Copyright: 2006 Nortext Publishing Corporation
Contact:  http://www.nunatsiaq.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/694
Author: Jane George

KATIVIK POLICE PROTEST FIRING OF CHIEF

Dismissal Comes After Clashes Over Drug Enforcement Operations

KUUJJUAQ - With their sirens wailing and horns honking, members of 
the Kativik Regional Police Force planned to parade past municipal 
and regional government offices in Nunavik this past Wednesday to 
protest the firing of Brian Jones, their chief of police.

The Kativik Regional Government's regional council voted to fire 
Jones at a late-night meeting held Sept. 14.

That's when the council heard and passed two resolutions, tagged on 
to their lengthy agenda: the first put an end to Jones' 14 years of 
service with the KRPF, and the second named the KRG's assistant 
general director, Luc Harvey, as the interim chief of police, 
effective Sept. 20.

Many of Jones' co-workers only heard about his firing informally the 
next day and by word-of-mouth over the weekend.

One KRPF member was enraged by Jones' firing. "It's censorship. Only 
in Communist countries does this happen," he said.

This week, unionized KRPF constables wore blue jeans to work, some 
say to protest the firing of their chief and as a work-to-rule tactic 
aimed at drawing attention to their expired collective agreement.

KRG councillors voted to pass the two resolutions unanimously, 
although Quaqtaq's regional councilor, Pallaya Ezekiel, said he voted 
in favour of the resolution to fire Jones "even though I don't want 
to approve."

He later said this was because he didn't have enough information 
about the dismissal.

Jones's legal options include filing an appeal against the resolution 
that dismissed him. Jones has 30 days to file this appeal, and until 
there is a legal judgment on his firing, Harvey's appointment as 
interim chief of the KRPF may be delayed.

Ever since the beginning of 2006, conflict between Jones and the KRG 
has escalated and become public.

The KRG expressed concern over the KRPF's budget overruns, its 
administrative problems and its focus on fighting drug trafficking 
and bootlegging in the region.

Last spring, the KRG executive had asked police to cut costs by 
stopping its involvement in the anti-drug Combined Forces Special 
Enforcement Unit, which is based out of Montreal, to focus more on 
"community policing."

The KRG said it wanted the police force to closely respect the 
mandate, spelled out in the most recent policing agreement with the 
federal and provincial governments. This says the KRPF is charged 
with "maintaining the peace, order and public security in Nunavik, of 
preventing and suppressing crime and violations of the laws and the by-laws."

But the KRPF said cutting drug operations in the South isn't the way 
to save money or fight crime, because southern Quebec is the main 
pipeline for narcotics into Nunavik; possession of drugs and 
trafficking are crimes; and they are the biggest cause of social 
problems, unrest and poverty in Nunavik.

The KRPF also fought for better living standards for its police, and 
last month pulled police out of Umiujaq due to a lack of staff housing.

The KRPF did not cut back its efforts to confront organized crime in 
the region and curb the flow of drugs and bootlegged booze into Nunavik.

The most recent bust was at the Raglan nickel mine earlier this 
month, where eight were arrested on various drug charges.

Under the Kativik Act, the KRG has authority over the KRPF, although 
its recommendations for hiring and firing need approval from the 
Quebec provincial government's public security department.

The first resolution passed on Sept. 14 said "the Council discussed 
the circumstances and behaviour of the Chief of the KRPF and deems it 
necessary to dismiss him for cause based on the reasons stated in the 
letter of dismissal addressed to Mr. Brian Jones, a confidential copy 
of which is attached to the original of this resolution."

The second resolution concerned the appointment of Luc Harvey as the 
interim chief of the KRPF.

Harvey was chief of police before he was succeeded by Jones. Harvey 
then became Jones' deputy, until he moved over to the KRG as director 
of public security and then as its assistant director general.

After the two resolutions passed, Jobie Tukkiapik, recently named as 
director general of the KRG, said a few words.

"We regret having to terminate the employment of Brian even though we 
would still like to work with him. We will still have him as a 
resource. He has always been a very resourceful person," Tukkiapik said.

The entire firing process was heard across Nunavik on the Taqramiut 
Nipingat radio network by Nunavimmiut who had toughed out 
late-evening discussions about education and housing, tacked on to 
the end of the three-day long regional council meeting.

In Kuujjuaq, by the time the two resolutions were read, the community 
radio station had stopped broadcasting TNI, and many were playing 
radio bingo when Jones' fate was decided.

Although a police crime statistics document, showing monthly 
increases in the number of crimes, was on the regional council's 
agenda, it was never heard, nor did Jones or his deputy chief, Jobie 
Epoo, appear at the meeting.

If KRPF turns a blind eye to drug and alcohol offenses in the region, 
it could face some hurdles in maintaining and renewing its mandate. 
Created as a native police force in 1995, the KRPF's agreement with 
the federal and provincial governments is coming up for renewal in 2008.

In June, Alberta shut down a northern Alberta aboriginal police 
service for failing to investigate a number of files, including cases 
of sexual assault, aggravated assault and attempted murder.

Two years ago, a native police force in the southern Quebec Mohawk 
community of Kanesetake was shut down when Quebec sent in the Surete 
du Quebec and the RCMP to take over policing.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine