Indigenous Val-d'Or residents face racial profiling, systemic discrimination, study suggests

A report released todaysuggests that police in Val-d'Or are racially profiling Indigenous people.

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Researchers Cline Bellotfrom l'Universit de Montraland Marie-Eve Sylvestrefrom the University of Ottawa conducted the study.

They lookedat how law enforcement and homelessness intersect in the city 600 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

Here's what they found:

• Sret du Qubec officershanded out 3,087 ticketsbetween Jan. 1 2012and March 1, 2015.
• 2,353, or 76 per cent of them, were issued to Indigenous people.
• 67 people received more than 10 tickets in that period.
• 63 of those people were Indigenous, as was everyone who received more than 15 tickets.

The majority of thetickets, which were municipal bylaw infractions, were given out for offences such as public intoxication, drinking and doing drugs in public and uttering threats.

According to the 2011 census, Indigenous people makeup less than 10 per cent of the population ofthe community.

The study comes amid high tensionbetween the Indigenous population and policein the community, following the revelation of allegations of abuse by SQ officers against Indigenous women in the area.

Crown prosecutorsdid not lay chargesagainst the six officers targeted by the abuse allegations.

Law poor tool for social problems

Sylvestresaidpolice are being forced to use the law to deal with social problems.

"We believe the police are not trained to respond to social needs.It's not their mandate; they don't have the necessary skills to do so," shesaid.

The report shows in some cases, people are arrested so they can obtain health and social servicesor have a roof over their heads.

The homeless population has steadily increased in the last decade due to increasing poverty, a housing shortage and health issues, the study says.

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The researchers found there are "several" indicators of social and racial profiling and systemic discrimination against homeless people in Val-d'Or, and especially Indigenous people, including a lack of social support, difficulty accessing services, and the use of SQ officers as the first or sole responder to social problems.

"In certain cases, the police and homeless people entertain cordial relationships, but generally speaking, we observed misunderstanding and distrust on each side," it said.

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And, the study says, in most cases, police officers don't receiveany specific training on the history and realties of Quebec First Nations and Inuit prior to working in Val-d'Or.

But they also don't get any support or training to deal with people living on the streets.

"Basically we found out that given the lack or the inadequacy of most of the health and social services in the city to respond to the very high and complex cycle of social needs of homeless people, the police were often the first if not the only responders that were called to intervene and deal with the issues in public spaces,"saidSylvestre.

The researchers are calling for more social workers, better training for police, and a moratorium on jailing people for unpaid fines.

"The police shouldn't be the first and only responders to issues related to homelessness and public spaces and in particular to public drinking and public intoxication," saidSylvestre.

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