Atikamekw Council of Opitciwan opens new police station

The Atikamekw Council of Opitciwan and Opitciwan Public Safety inaugurated a new police station and policing facilities for the community. At the ribbon cutting ceremony on September 2, community officials were joined by François-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of finance and national income, and Ian Lafrenière, provincial minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit. Randy Weizineau is director of public safety for Opitciwan, which is located more than 9 hours northwest of Montreal. He said he was proud to celebrate the opening of a new police station. “It’s an event that doesn’t happen regularly, even in police organizations, and it’s worth highlighting,” Weizineau told APTN News. The $4.2 million project was paid for by federal and provincial governments as well as the Atikamekw Council of Opitciwan. A press release explained the project replaced an old and outdated police station with a new space featuring three mechanized garage entrances that open into the cell-block area, new communications and surveillance systems, and new rooms for interviews and filmed appearances. The station also got upgrades to its offices and a separate observation room. Read more: Essential Service: The hidden cost of underfunding Indigenous police services First Nations police staffing levels ‘harmfully low’ in Ontario, says report   “For us, it’s important to be able to provide services to our people who are often vulnerable and who come into contact with our police services,” Weizineau explained. “The language is still spoken by 98 per cent of the population. Young people grow up with Atikamekw.” He stressed that his goal is to provide Opitciwan residents with services in the community and territory delivered by members of the community, who are the most expert at assessing the needs of the people they deal with. Weizineau said he hopes the new facilities will also encourage recruitment and lower turnover. “We’re still lucky, because we have a police department with a number of staff that ultimately meets our needs,” he explained. “But the turnover rate is high, because sometimes they want career advancement, which we can’t always offer. “But if we offer them equipment, a new police station, new premises, they’ll feel privileged to have it, and that will help with retention.” Recruitment difficulties are common across many First Nations and not specific to Opitciwan, Weizineau noted. Municipal services around Quebec, including provincial police services, have been hiring, and these can sometimes offer better pay and bonuses than on-reserve police services. “But we are still managing to recruit,” Weizineau said. “We are trying to work hard with the community to reach out to young people in schools and encourage them to come and work for us.” Community expertise is the strongest argument for local recruitment, Weizineau said, arguing police from Opitciwan can understand better than outsiders both what people in the community need and how to respond to their realities. “I try to push young people a little bit to be aware of this,” he said, “that we make a difference in our Indigenous communities. We live here, we come from here, we help our people here.” Continue Reading