Photo credit: Jean-Louis Régis, Innu photographer. Kwe! Event

Services available

An Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor supporting Indigenous communities  (EDI- Indigenous Advisor) is available to facilitate your access to our services. You can reach the  advisor directly by email at layla.dery@comdp.gouv.qc.ca.

Layla Déry is available at all the different stages of the process of filing a police ethics complaint, offering help and support during any of those steps :

• drafting of the complaint
• conciliation
• investigation
• hearing before the Tribunal administratif de déontologie policière (Administrative Tribunal for Police Ethics)
• request for review

We have established a partnership with the SPAQ who can support and guide First Nations and Inuit complainants to the appropriate services, particularly in their recourse in police ethics, based on the specificities of their situation and their needs. A confidential hotline intended for Indigenous people who are victims of verbal or physical abuse, discrimination, racial profiling, or any other complaint about any police officer or peace officer has been set up. You can reach the hotline at 1-833-753-2095.

This service is offered in French, English and, at the complainant's request, in Cree, Innu, Inuktitut and other Indigenous dialects through the SPAQ's Indigenous Courtworker services.  

Measures and initiatives

 In the spirit of the various recommendations of commissions of inquiry, in particular the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Government Action Plan for the Social and Cultural Development of the First Nations and Inuit, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, as well as the Public Inquiry Commission on relations between Indigenous Peoples and certain public services in Québec, we have implemented and will implement various initiatives aimed to facilitate access to our services for Indigenous people in Québec.

Translation of information and awareness documents

Information documents on the process for filing a police ethics complaint have been translated and are now available in five indigenous languages:

Cree

Innu-aimun

Inuktitut

Atikamekw

Anishinaabe

Data collection and reporting

We are currently working on compiling data on complaints made to First Nations and Inuit police forces. The objective is to examine whether certain findings will emerge from these analyses, and then share them with indigenous decision-makers.

Enhancements have been made to allow complainants to identify as Indigenous (including their affiliation with a nation or community) via the new complaint form. Statistics are available in our annual management reports. This initiative is directly related to Recommendation #4 of the Commission of Inquiry into Relations between Indigenous Peoples and Certain Public Services.

Partnership with First Nation and Inuit organizations

A partnership was created in the summer of 2021 between the Native Para-judicial Services of Quebec (SPAQ) and the Commissaire à la déontologie policière to make available an indigenous resource that can support and direct indigenous complainants to the appropriate services depending on the specificities of their situation and their needs. These services are available, among other things, via a confidential telephone line (1-833-753-2095) intended for indigenous people who are victims of verbal or physical abuse, discrimination, discriminatory profiling, or any other complaint about any police officer or peace officer, including :

• Quebec police officers (on or off the community)
• special constables (courthouses, STM, SPCA, Hydro-Québec, Agence du revenu de Québec, Assemblée nationale, bodyguards, Université du Québec, Canadien national)
• wildlife protection officers
• road controllers
• investigators from the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) and the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI).

This service is offered in French, in English and, at the request of the complainant, in Cree, Innu, Inuktitut and other indigenous dialects through the services of indigenous courtworkers.

Information sessions on the police ethics complaint process with First Nations and Inuit communities and organizations can be offered. Do not hesitate to request them by sending us an email.

We are also developing training on the rights and obligations of citizens in their interactions with police officers and peace officers as well as a customized version to the specific contexts of indigenous people in Quebec.

Changes in internal procedures

In the winter of 2021, the Commissaire à la déontologie policière (Police Ethics Commissioner) created a procedure to promote cultural safery for conciliation-oriented complaints for which complainants are Indigenous. At the complainant's request, the EDI-Indigenous Advisor will attempt to better meet their needs (for example, provide an interpreter in their Indigenous language, facilitate the presence of a companion offering spiritual support, or offer support throughout the complaint process, including being present during the conciliation to promote communication between the parties in consideration of the First Nations or Inuit realities while remaining neutral and impartial).

Creation of prevention tools

As part of the upcoming development of a prevention program, tools designed specifically for Indigenous populations in Quebec will be created. A consultation and co-development plan with First Nations and Inuit will be developed to guide the creation of tools that will meet the expressed needs.

A reference tool for indigenous public safety in Quebec is now available

This reference tool on indigenous public safety in Quebec  is designed to enhance public knowledge and facilitate communications with members of Quebec's First Nations and Inuit. It is the result of a partnership between the Commissaire à la déontologie policière and the Association of First Nations and Inuit Chiefs of Police of Quebec (ADDPNIQ). Although the tool focuses primarily on public safety issues, it also contains useful information for anyone working in any way with First Nations and Inuit people.