The following open letter was sent Wednesday to minister Marc Miller and the federal government on behalf of the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, Resilience Montreal, Quebec Native Women, and the Assembly of First Nations Quebec- Labrador.
To: The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services
Dear Honorable Marc Miller,
You expressed outrage over the recent “wellness check” by the Edmundson police on Chantel Moore, which resulted in police shooting Chantel to death. We — The Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, Resilience Montreal, Quebec Native Women (QNW), and the Assembly of First Nations Quebec- Labrador (AFNQL) — are also outraged. Yet part of our outrage comes from our awareness of how frequently police use extraordinary violence to intervene in situations involving Indigenous people.
A deeply troubling incident recently occurred in your own neighborhood, less than 800 meters from your riding office. On May 3 at Cabot Square in Montreal, where a First Nations woman, visibly in psychological distress, needed to be transported by ambulance to receive emergency hospital care. Several vehicles and 17 SPVM police officers were the first responders, supported by the K-9 squad, while waiting for an ambulance. Was this also a wellness check? Is this the sort of "wellness" Indigenous people across Canada should expect to follow the arrival of police in a time of crisis?
We ask you this as a question, but we know the answer: across Canada, Indigenous people are terrified of police, because when we call them for help, they rarely come to save us or when they come they apply excessive force, including, far too often, lethal force — in lieu of communication, de-escalation, and non-violent resolution. (more...)
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