Wednesday’s provincial budget included $400, 000 for Indigenous police services. File Hills Police Chief Lennard Busch says the money was needed—because there hasn’t been a funding increase in five years—but that the new funds don’t help with what his officers need most.
The File Hills police need a new police station.
The File Hills police, who provide police services for five nearby First Nations communities, currently share space with the File Hills Community Health Centre. But the health centre needs the entirety of the shared one-story building on Okanese First Nation for a child and family services facility. The police will have to relocate.
The move is not acrimonious.
“It’s not like we’ve been given an eviction notice with a certain date on it. But it’s a notice to start looking for alternatives to house our police service,” said Busch.
In a statement to CTV News the health centre said that they "support the police service in acquiring their new building” and that both groups "aspire to improve the services to our member First Nations".
Just as there is no firm deadline there is also no plan in place for policing without a base of operations.
“That's what makes this such a critical issue because right now we don't really know what we would do," said Busch.
He says it is important that the police have a presence in the communities for which they are responsible but that he hasn’t been able to find an appropriate location.
“What we really hope to do is construct a public safety complex that would house the police, fire department and the EMS’ he said.
He estimates that such a facility would cost up to $7 million and that the search for funding and a location are underway.
In January federal public safety minister Ralph Goodale announced approximately $291 million over five years for policing in First Nations and Inuit communities. The announcement came with an agreement that the provinces would provide 48 per cent of that amount. Wednesday’s provincial budget brought $400, 000 for Indigenous police services in Saskatchewan.
The provincial budget also included $2.7 million for infrastructure projects and Busch says he is hoping some of those funds can be allocated to a new police headquarters.
File Hills police have been operating out of the health centre since 2004. The centre does not have holding cells and so those placed under arrest are held in police stations in Fort Qu’Appelle or Indian Head.
