Medicine Hat police release Indigenous reconciliation plan

The Medicine Hat Police Service has published an Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan that commits the service to building relationships with local First Nations, Métis and Inuit residents, guided by recommendations from the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The plan draws on 11 "Calls for Police Services" and 21 related sub-categories set out in the MMIWG final report, covering pages 190 to 218 of that document. The service said several of those calls either fall under provincial or federal jurisdiction or already reflect existing policing practice at MHPS.

"We recognize that all First Nations, Inuit, and Métis families can raise their children in Medicine Hat with the same safety, security, and human rights that non-Indigenous families living in Medicine Hat do," the police chief and police commission chairperson wrote in a joint statement included in the plan.

According to the 2021 Statistics Canada census figures cited in the plan, Medicine Hat's Indigenous population stands at 3,225 within an overall city population of 62,935. That figure includes 1,020 First Nations people, 2,065 Métis, 40 Inuk, 45 people with multiple Indigenous identities and 55 whose responses were not captured elsewhere. The plan said the service also recognizes Indigenous people who visit or travel to Medicine Hat from elsewhere in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan.

A key action item in the plan is the creation of a Chief's Indigenous Advisory Committee, bringing together the chief of police, the chair of the Medicine Hat Police Commission, local Indigenous leaders and Métis Elders, along with other service staff. The committee held its first meeting on June 23, 2021, and meets three to four times a year. The plan said the group "helps to guide the MHPS by advising us on our path towards reconciliation efforts and ensuring we are meeting the needs of our local community."

The plan also calls for a review of all MHPS policies. The service said the Medicine Hat area, including the Cypress Hills and parts of southwestern Saskatchewan, has deep Indigenous history connected to the Blackfoot Confederacy, Nakoda/Assiniboine, Cree and Métis peoples.

No date was listed on the release. The full plan is available on the MHPS website.