Chiefs of Ontario launch lawsuit, Canada and Ontario not keeping First Nations safe, can’t enforce band by-laws

TORONTO- The Chiefs of Ontario (COO) have launched a lawsuit against Ontario and Canada charging the two are “failing to provide First Nations with equal access to justice and the rule of law as other Canadians.” COO said the “discrimination causes serious harm and hardship to First Nations.” COO launched the lawsuit after a unanimous resolution was passed by the Chiefs-in-Assembly saying they had spent years of attempting to work with the Ford government on serious flaws in its new Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA). The act excludes the enforcement of First Nations by-laws from mandatory police functions. The Act was passed by the legislature in 2019 and came into force on April 1,2024. “This legislation has always been discriminatory, but ignoring the serious concerns of First Nations was…

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