First Indigenous adviser to police ready for monumental challenge

Sheila North knows she has taken on the onerous task of trying to mend the troubled relationship between Winnipeg police and the Indigenous community, but said she’s up for the challenge.

“We have a lot of work to do,” she said at a news conference Tuesday in which she was named the first external Indigenous relations adviser for the Winnipeg Police Service.

North, who may be best known for working as a television reporter in Winnipeg, was the grand chief of the northern Manitoba chiefs organization, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, from 2015 to 2018 and was most recently executive director of external Indigenous relations at the University of Winnipeg.

“I, myself, have had really good experiences with Winnipeg police — I’ve felt protected many times, I’ve felt helped many times — but I’ve also been disappointed many times and I’ve been made to feel vulnerable a few times as well,” she told the news conference.

Winnipeg police Chief Gene Bowers, who made the announcement at the service’s headquarters, said adding the position is necessary to guide the service’s path to reconciliation.

“Reconciliation is more than words, it requires action,” Bowers said. “Reconciliation requires continued growth and examination of issues from all perspectives.”

Indigenous people are over-represented in the Canadian and provincial justice systems as both offenders and victims of crime. Leaders in Manitoba and elsewhere have long called for justice officials to address systemic racism.

The service and its new adviser will rely on guiding principles included in past reports on the issue.

“I, myself, have had really good experiences with Winnipeg police — I’ve felt protected many times, I’ve felt helped many times — but I’ve also been disappointed many times and I’ve been made to feel vulnerable a few times as well.”–Sheila North

Those include the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry — which was held in part as a response to a Winnipeg police officer fatally shooting First Nations leader J.J. Harper in 1988 — as well as the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the residential school system and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, said Bowers.

North said there is much to do to repair and renew relationships that have “gone astray for many generations” between Winnipeg police and Indigenous people.

“But we also know that policing… is very important… We have a Cree word for police… so that tells me they have important roles as police officers, to keep our cities and our communities and our families safe,” said North, who is from Bunibonibee Cree Nation in the province’s northeast.

She added police have made strides in trying to address reconciliation and relations in recent years.

North will provide guidance and advice to the police executive management team, said Bowers, who spearheaded the creation of the new role after being appointed chief earlier this year.

The chief said he hopes Winnipeg police will become leaders in reconciliation and that the concept becomes woven into the “fabric of our service” in a city that has the largest population of Indigenous people in Canada.

The 2021 census noted more than 102,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis people live in Winnipeg, which makes up about 14 per cent of the population.

Over the coming months, North and police brass will develop plans for new initiatives, said Bowers, including an Indigenous advisory circle.

This week, North and Bowers will attend the national Assembly of First Nations annual general assembly, which is being held in Winnipeg.

Bowers said it’s important to have an adviser with connections to the community to look at the service from the outside.

North said she is not afraid to be critical of police while in the role — as she has in past roles as grand chief and as a reporter.

“I want that level of separation, where I am able to look at work and initiatives or things that happened in a critical way if I have to,” she said.

North first addressed the event in Cree as a way to honour Indigenous sovereignty, she said.

Winnipeg Police Board chair Coun. Markus Chambers said the appointment marks a significant step in the city’s efforts to build trust and strengthen relationships between police and Indigenous people.

Chambers underscored the fact Winnipeg has the largest population of Indigenous people among Canadian cities.

“Reconciliation is more than words, it requires action … Reconciliation requires continued growth and examination of issues from all perspectives.”–Winnipeg police Chief Gene Bowers

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson congratulated North on her appointment.

“Her deep understanding of the issues facing First Nations will strengthen dialogue and bring forward the voices of our citizens in areas where it is most needed,” said Wilson in a statement.

The grand chief said the creation of the new role is a “step forward,” but what will matter most is ensuring the voices and experiences of First Nations guide the police service’s work.

“North’s leadership and advocacy will ensure this process is grounded in respect, action, and accountability,” Wilson said.

North has had a varied career that includes entrepreneur, Cree translator, filmmaker and author.

In 2018, she was runner-up in the Assembly of First Nations leadership election. In 2022, she ran for leadership of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, but was unsuccessful.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca