Quebec failed obligations to First Nation in police funding talks, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court of Canada on Wednesday ruled in favour of a First Nation that had sued the Quebec and federal governments for underfunding its police service, in a decision Indigenous law experts say could reshape how governments negotiate the funding of basic services in First Nations communities.The 8-1 decision is a win for the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation, an Innu community of several thousand people about three hours north of Quebec City. The court’s ruling highlighted that policing in Indigenous communities has long been underfunded. It concluded Quebec did not bargain in good faith when it refused to renegotiate policing funding with the community. The Supreme Court called that “an intransigent position.”