SaskatchewanRed Pheasant Cree Nation has become the first First Nations community in Saskatchewan to sign a memorandum of understanding with the provincial marshals service.Chief Marshal Robert Cameron says force will focus on proactive, high-impact policingAishah Ashraf · CBC News · Posted: Oct 22, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours agoSaskatchewan Marshals Service Chief Marshal Robert Cameron, left, shakes hands with Red Pheasant Cree Nation Chief Cody Benson after they signed the first MOU between the marshals service and a First Nation, Monday in North Battleford. (Aishah Ashraf/CBC)Times have changed for Patricia Bird.“When I was younger, I [could] walk anywhere, do anything,” said the Red Pheasant Cree Nation elder. “Not anymore. I can’t. It’s looking at your surroundings, always watching your back. That’s just the way it is.”Bird said people in her community have grown cautious about safety over the years. She hopes a stronger police presence will bring back the sense of peace they once knew.Red Pheasant Cree Nation Elder Patricia Bird says she hopes a stronger police presence will help make her community feel safer. (Aishah Ashraf/CBC)That hope turned into action Monday in North Battleford, where Red Pheasant Cree Nation became the first First Nations community in the province to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Saskatchewan Marshals Service. The agreement formalizes a partnership both sides say will improve safety and build closer collaboration with existing police forces.Red Pheasant Chief Cody Benson said the MOU follows more than a year of discussions about how to address the growing effects of drugs and violence.With the RCMP already serving the area, he said the marshals will provide additional support. He acknowledged there have been mixed reactions within the community. “Like anything, it’s new and some people are for it and some people are against it,” he said. “But at the end of the day, the top priority is our kids … so that they can be able to go next door and visit their relative’s house and not be scared.”The Saskatchewan Marshals Service was launched in 2022 and became operational this year. The agency was created to assist law-enforcement services across the province through preventative and proactive administration. Headquartered in Prince Albert, its first regional office is slated to open in the Battlefords by the end of the year. The centre will be staffed with an inspector, 10 marshals and several civilian support personnel. The top priority is our kids … so that they can be able to go next door and visit their relative’s house and not be scared.- Chief Cody Benson, Red Pheasant Cree NationChief Marshal Robert Cameron said the marshals will focus on proactive, high-impact policing.“The most important part is to be able to focus on that really high-risk crime — the guns, the violence that the community sees,” he said. He added the agreement represents a new starting point for collaboration and trust-building with Indigenous communities.“It’s imperative for us to keep working with the community … to see how this community operates, what its culture is, what its customs are,” he said.For many Indigenous leaders, the push for community-based policing gained new urgency after the 2022 mass stabbing on James Smith Cree Nation, where 11 people were killed and 17 injured. James Smith Chief Kirby Constant said communities are still dealing with the trauma of the tragedy, and the conditions that made it possible. “We’re still dealing with the aftereffects of three years ago,” he said. “Drugs, crime and poverty plagues our Nation [and] pretty much every single Nation in Saskatchewan is plagued with the same problems.”The tragedy at James Smith Cree Nation sparked a wider push for change. Since then, Indigenous leaders have called for greater control over local safety and quicker police response times.Earlier this month, the Prince Albert Grand Council shared findings from a regional policing study that showed strong support for a First Nations-led police service across northern Saskatchewan.Those shared challenges are what led Benson to act.“If we don’t start it now, it’s never going to happen,” he said. “It may take years; it may take months. Regardless that we started this now, it’s going to be the opportunity for it to move forward.”As for Patricia Bird, she said what she wants most is simple.“What I need to see is the kids going to the playground just enjoying with other friends after school.”
‘The top priority is our kids’: Red Pheasant signs policing deal with Sask. Marshals Service
