THUNDER BAY—Indigenous leaders are applauding the release of a scathing but “groundbreaking” report by Ontario’s police watchdog, which they say validates what their communities have long been alleging: that systemic racism exists within the Thunder Bay police and influences how Indigenous deaths and disappearances are investigated.

They say the report — released by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) on Wednesday — makes numerous recommendations for Thunder Bay police that could make positive changes for how officers engage with Indigenous communities.

But these recommendations are also non-binding and for some First Nations leaders, the clock is now ticking for Thunder Bay police to adopt them.

“At the end of a three-year time period, if Indigenous people in this community still do not feel safe — if they still fear for their safety and well-being — then the province needs to seriously consider establishing a new police service for this city,” said Alvin Fiddler, Grand Chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations within northern Ontario.

“You’ve now been called out for the inefficiencies, the systemic racism,” echoed Robin McGinnis, chief of Rainy River First Nations. “After three years, if you’re not following the recommendations, disbanding would be my next push.”

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The three-year timeframe comes from one of 44 recommendations made by the OIPRD in its systemic review — specifically, that Thunder Bay police initiate a “peer-review process” for at least three years, where sudden death and homicide investigations are overseen by external investigators.

Titled “Broken Trust,” the unprecedented 206-page report was unveiled at a packed news conference in Thunder Bay and concluded that “systemic racism exists in Thunder Bay Police Service at an institutional level” — a statement that prompted applause from the crowd.

The OIPRD’s two-year investigation examined more than three dozen investigative files pertaining to sudden deaths of Indigenous men and women since 2009, and a select few dating back to 2000, concluding that Thunder Bay police “failed on an unacceptably high number of occasions to treat or protect the deceased and his or her family equally and without discrimination because the deceased was Indigenous.”

The report uncovered a long list of serious problems with police, including a lack of expertise to conduct sudden death or homicide investigations, officers neglecting to connect autopsy reports to their own investigations — or even to find out the results — and a failure by forensic officers to “fulfil basic requirements.”

OIPRD director Gerry McNeilly also made the stunning recommendation that at least nine sudden death cases involving Indigenous people be reopened because they were so inadequately investigated by Thunder Bay police officers. The failure to conduct thorough investigations — or the tendency to make “premature conclusions” — is “at least in part, attributable to racist attitudes and racial stereotyping,” he wrote.

“Officers repeatedly relied on generalized notions of how Indigenous people likely came to their deaths and acted, or refrained from acting, based on those biases,” McNeilly said Wednesday.

“This does not represent a determination that all Thunder Bay Police Services officers engaged in intentional racism — no,” he continued. “However, the fact remains that investigations were too often handled differently because the deceased was Indigenous.”

McNeilly said throughout the OIPRD’s investigation, which involved dozens of trips to Thunder Bay, his team encountered a wide range of beliefs and attitudes amongst officers, including some who held “very disturbing views.”

“While these views were expressed by a minority of officers, they were expressed by more than just a few bad apples,” he said.

One of his recommendations was that Thunder Bay police “publicly and formally acknowledge that racism exists at all levels within the police service.”

As the press conference was underway, police chief Sylvie Hauth issued a written statement acknowledging that systemic “barriers” existed within the police service but avoided using the phrase “systemic racism” — an equivocation that drew immediate criticism from many Indigenous leaders and community members in attendance.

“I was really disappointed,” Fiddler said of the statement, adding Hauth was only installed as chief last month. “This was her moment, this was her opportunity to step up and show some leadership, and you do that by acknowledging the problem.”

Hauth later conceded to reporters “there is systemic racism within our service” and issued a followup statement where she formally reiterated this position in writing.

“The Thunder Bay Police Service is formally acknowledging that it must address the systemic racism, barriers and biases that exist within its service,” the statement read. “This acknowledgement is an important step, as highlighted by the OIPRD report, in the service’s ongoing efforts to build trust within the Indigenous community.”

Hauth said in her statement she is taking the report “very seriously” and rebuilding trust is central to her new role. “I think it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the work that’s been done and the progress that we have made and will continue to do,” she stated.

Hauth said she is still reviewing the report and its numerous recommendations, including that a multidisciplinary team be asked to reinvestigate the nine cases identified by McNeilly in his report.

The OIPRD also suggested the multidisciplinary team consider reinvestigating the death of Stacy DeBungee, a 41-year-old Rainy River First Nations man who died in 2015. Police deemed his death to be “non-criminal” within 25 hours of his body being found in the McIntyre River and his case — along with a complaint filed by his family and Rainy River First Nations — was the impetus behind the OIPRD’s decision to open a systemic review of Thunder Bay police.

But Julian Falconer, the lawyer representing the DeBungee family and Rainy River First Nations, said too much time has now passed for DeBungee’s death to be adequately re-examined and potentially solved.

“Because of the failures to protect the scene, because of the failures to interview witnesses in a timely way, evidence has been irreversibly lost,” he said. “The failure to competently investigate the cases in the early hours of a death makes it virtually impossible to fix things.”

But Falconer praised the OIPRD report, which he said represented “the most unequivocal recognition of racism across a police service that I have ever witnessed in my work.

“It sets a new bar for agencies that are doing this kind of work.”

This praise was echoed by Fiddler, who said the report validated what his community members have long been saying. It is also the first example he’s seen of an oversight body explicitly calling out the Thunder Bay Police Service for systemic racism, he said.

“Gerry McNeilly pulled no punches,” Fiddler said. “He’s speaking the truth of what’s happening in Thunder Bay.”

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McGinnis said the OIPRD’s “groundbreaking” review has given him renewed hope that change might finally be coming for Indigenous people in Thunder Bay. But he said the report also kindled feelings of sadness for him, especially when he found himself sitting next to Brad DeBungee, the brother of Stacy DeBungee.

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“I could feel him, he was almost shaking,” McGinnis said. “(The report) was an admission that they didn’t do right by his brother.

“We’ve been in this fight for three years and to have this report come out and tell the truth of what’s going on there — it’s a victory in itself. Not just for my community, but for all communities that visit Thunder Bay.”

The Thunder Bay probe is only the third time the OIPRD has ever conducted a systemic review, with the first two examining police conduct during the Toronto G20 summit in 2010 and OPP practices for DNA canvasses.

It is also just the latest effort to seek answers and accountability for the neglect and racist treatment of Indigenous people in Thunder Bay.

In 2016, the provincial coroner’s office completed a two-year inquest into the deaths of the “seven fallen feathers” who died in Thunder Bay between 2000 and 2011, making 145 recommendations for how similar tragedies could be avoided and prevented. Four of the seven are now among the nine cases recommended by the OIPRD for reinvestigation.

Last year, the Ontario Civilian Police Commission also announced an investigation into the Thunder Bay Police Services Board led by Murray Sinclair, the respected former chair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sinclair’s final report will be released Friday.

Key recommendations from OIPRD review:

Here are some of the key recommendations from the OIPRD’s systemic review of Thunder Bay Police Services (TBPS):

A public and formal acknowledgement “that racism exists at all levels within the police service and it will not tolerate racist views or actions”;

The formation of a multidisciplinary investigation team that will reinvestigate the sudden deaths of at least nine Indigenous people, whose cases were found by the OIPRD to be probed inadequately;

The implementation of an “external peer-review process” for at least three years, where all sudden death and homicide investigations in Thunder Bay are reviewed by experienced investigators from external police services;

The establishment of a Major Crimes Unit that complies with provincial standards and best practices, staffed by officers with appropriate training and experience;

The addition of at least three more officers to TBPS’s Aboriginal Liaison Unit and fully integrating their roles into additional areas of the service;

Working with experts, Indigenous leaders, elders and the Indigenous Justice Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General to design and implement mandatory Indigenous cultural competency and anti-racism training, which will be “ongoing throughout the career of a TBPS officer or employee”;

Focusing proactively on actions to eliminate systemic racism, including the removal of systemic barriers and the root causes of racial inequalities in the service;

Requiring that officers disclose potential evidence of police misconduct;

Implementing in-car and body-worn cameras, as well as mandating that all police officers wear name tags on the front of their uniforms;

Undertaking initiatives in collaboration with First Nations police services that allow Thunder Bay police officers to train or work with First Nations police services and visit remote communities;

Implementing psychological testing that will eliminate applicants with racist views or attitudes;

Increasing diversity within the service, with “prominence given to Indigenous candidates”;

A requirement that TBPS provide reports to the OIPRD with updates on its progress in implementing the report’s 44 recommendations;

That TBPS publicly disclose data on sudden death investigations involving Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.