KATIVIK POLICE PROTEST FIRING OF CHIEF

Dismissal Comes After Clashes Over Drug Enforcement Operations

KUUJJUAQ - With their sirens wailing and horns honking, members of
the Kativik Regional Police Force planned to parade past municipal
and regional government offices in Nunavik this past Wednesday to
protest the firing of Brian Jones, their chief of police.

The Kativik Regional Government's regional council voted to fire
Jones at a late-night meeting held Sept. 14.

That's when the council heard and passed two resolutions, tagged on
to their lengthy agenda: the first put an end to Jones' 14 years of
service with the KRPF, and the second named the KRG's assistant
general director, Luc Harvey, as the interim chief of police,
effective Sept. 20.

Many of Jones' co-workers only heard about his firing informally the
next day and by word-of-mouth over the weekend.

One KRPF member was enraged by Jones' firing. "It's censorship. Only
in Communist countries does this happen," he said.

This week, unionized KRPF constables wore blue jeans to work, some
say to protest the firing of their chief and as a work-to-rule tactic
aimed at drawing attention to their expired collective agreement.

KRG councillors voted to pass the two resolutions unanimously,
although Quaqtaq's regional councilor, Pallaya Ezekiel, said he voted
in favour of the resolution to fire Jones "even though I don't want
to approve."

He later said this was because he didn't have enough information
about the dismissal.

Jones's legal options include filing an appeal against the resolution
that dismissed him. Jones has 30 days to file this appeal, and until
there is a legal judgment on his firing, Harvey's appointment as
interim chief of the KRPF may be delayed.

Ever since the beginning of 2006, conflict between Jones and the KRG
has escalated and become public.

The KRG expressed concern over the KRPF's budget overruns, its
administrative problems and its focus on fighting drug trafficking
and bootlegging in the region.

Last spring, the KRG executive had asked police to cut costs by
stopping its involvement in the anti-drug Combined Forces Special
Enforcement Unit, which is based out of Montreal, to focus more on
"community policing."

The KRG said it wanted the police force to closely respect the
mandate, spelled out in the most recent policing agreement with the
federal and provincial governments. This says the KRPF is charged
with "maintaining the peace, order and public security in Nunavik, of
preventing and suppressing crime and violations of the laws and the by-laws."

But the KRPF said cutting drug operations in the South isn't the way
to save money or fight crime, because southern Quebec is the main
pipeline for narcotics into Nunavik; possession of drugs and
trafficking are crimes; and they are the biggest cause of social
problems, unrest and poverty in Nunavik.

The KRPF also fought for better living standards for its police, and
last month pulled police out of Umiujaq due to a lack of staff housing.

The KRPF did not cut back its efforts to confront organized crime in
the region and curb the flow of drugs and bootlegged booze into Nunavik.

The most recent bust was at the Raglan nickel mine earlier this
month, where eight were arrested on various drug charges.

Under the Kativik Act, the KRG has authority over the KRPF, although
its recommendations for hiring and firing need approval from the
Quebec provincial government's public security department.

The first resolution passed on Sept. 14 said "the Council discussed
the circumstances and behaviour of the Chief of the KRPF and deems it
necessary to dismiss him for cause based on the reasons stated in the
letter of dismissal addressed to Mr. Brian Jones, a confidential copy
of which is attached to the original of this resolution."

The second resolution concerned the appointment of Luc Harvey as the
interim chief of the KRPF.

Harvey was chief of police before he was succeeded by Jones. Harvey
then became Jones' deputy, until he moved over to the KRG as director
of public security and then as its assistant director general.

After the two resolutions passed, Jobie Tukkiapik, recently named as
director general of the KRG, said a few words.

"We regret having to terminate the employment of Brian even though we
would still like to work with him. We will still have him as a
resource. He has always been a very resourceful person," Tukkiapik said.

The entire firing process was heard across Nunavik on the Taqramiut
Nipingat radio network by Nunavimmiut who had toughed out
late-evening discussions about education and housing, tacked on to
the end of the three-day long regional council meeting.

In Kuujjuaq, by the time the two resolutions were read, the community
radio station had stopped broadcasting TNI, and many were playing
radio bingo when Jones' fate was decided.

Although a police crime statistics document, showing monthly
increases in the number of crimes, was on the regional council's
agenda, it was never heard, nor did Jones or his deputy chief, Jobie
Epoo, appear at the meeting.

If KRPF turns a blind eye to drug and alcohol offenses in the region,
it could face some hurdles in maintaining and renewing its mandate.
Created as a native police force in 1995, the KRPF's agreement with
the federal and provincial governments is coming up for renewal in 2008.

In June, Alberta shut down a northern Alberta aboriginal police
service for failing to investigate a number of files, including cases
of sexual assault, aggravated assault and attempted murder.

Two years ago, a native police force in the southern Quebec Mohawk
community of Kanesetake was shut down when Quebec sent in the Surete
du Quebec and the RCMP to take over policing.