Supreme Court will hear Quebec’s challenge to ruling on Indigenous police funding

OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada said today it will hear an appeal to a ruling that ordered Ottawa and Quebec to increase funding for a First Nations police force.

Quebec’s highest court ruled in December 2022 that the provincial and federal governments owed the Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan First Nation $1.6 million to make up for years of police underfunding.

The Quebec government is asking the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.

In 2019, Quebec’s Superior Court sided with the province, but that ruling was overturned on appeal.

A three-judge Court of Appeal panel said the governments had acted dishonourably by refusing to provide adequate funding for the Indigenous police force in Quebec’s Saguenay—Lac-St-Jean region.

The governments had argued that Indigenous communities could use Quebec provincial police for free.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 5, 2023.

The Canadian Press