Indigenous leaders gather in Regina for public safety, policing forum

A forum in Regina on Wednesday brought together indigenous leaders from around the country and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to talk about violence and policing.

The Indigenous Public Safety and Policing Forum was convened by the Assembly of First Nations and included leaders from the Mtis National Council, Native Women's Association of Canada, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the RCMP.

According to an AFN press release, the forum was organized to begin a dialogue on working towards improved public safety and policing for indigenous communities and people.

"The forum takes place in the wake of numerous activities by First Nations, indigenous organizations and governments to address issues related to indigenous people and the justice system and the commitment to a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls," the release said.

There were also representatives from the Office of the Correctional Investigator, who in January told CBC that in federal corrections, 25 per cent of the incarcerated population are now of aboriginal ancestry. A Statistics Canada report from 2014 showed that while just five per cent of Canada's population is aboriginal, nearly one-quarter of homicide victims that year were aboriginal people.

It was also held the day after a fatal shooting on the Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation, about 165 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.

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The forum was meant to bring together Indigenous organizations, federal and provincial policing organizations and other organizations to talk about tackling the issue of violence.

Muriel Stanley Venn came from Alberta to speak at the forum. She said that racism in Canada towards indigenous people is systemic.

"Every single act of discrimination against indigenous people has been government legislated," she said. "Therefore the human rights of indigenous people have been violated constantly since contact and since the colonists came into our country."

She said it's important to start talking about the human rights of indigenous people in Canada.