One month after Opitciwan’s police force was disbanded, 22 officers will be back on the job next week in the remote First Nation.
The local department was disbanded on April 1 as negotiations over a renewed funding agreement between Opitciwan’s band council, the federal and provincial governments fell apart. At issue was Quebec’s refusal to help pay for the department’s $600,000 deficit — a sum it had previously agreed to fund, according to Opitciwan’s band council.
For Opitciwan to continue paying its police officers as of April 1, the council would have had to divert money from other services like health care and education. Given that the community struggles with some of the highest unemployment levels in Quebec, band chief Christian Awashish says redirecting funds wasn’t an option.
As Awashish met with representatives from Quebec and Ottawa, the Sûreté du Québec assumed policing duties in Opitciwan at a cost of about $100,000 per week. Opitciwan’s locally-run police force operated on less than half that budget.
