Jeremy Ashley
Friday, April 20, 2007
The Belleville Intelligencer
Tyendinaga Mohawk Police Chief Larry Hay has been suspended following comments attributed to him in this week's edition of the Loyalist College newspaper.
In the article, published April 14 in The Pioneer, Hay is quoted as calling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police "a racist organization" and that he "came here to learn that the OPP and the SQ (Surete de Quebec) are no different. It's deep-seated racism, and they will do all kinds of things to show that it isn't so, but we know better."
The comments were allegedly made by Hay - who is an executive member of the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association (FNCPA) - to a student reporter who was at the scene of the native occupation of a gravel quarry near Deseronto.
The protest, which is entering its fifth week, has been called over a disputed land claim known as the Culbertson Tract - a 925-acre stretch of land that includes the quarry and about two-thirds of the town of Deseronto.
During the interview, Hay is reported to have complained to the student reporter the provincial police refused to provide a portable toilet for his officers - who have been at the Deseronto Road site since the protest began - saying "if it's not OPP pee, forget it."
Hay, who lives on the Tyendinaga Territory, has served as police chief of the sixth largest First Nations territory in Canada since 2000. He is also a 19-year veteran of the RCMP and has been involved with the FNCPA for seven years.
Speaking to The Intelligencer, Thursday, OPP Sgt. Kristine Rae confirmed a "Tyendinaga First Nations officer was suspended with pay while an investigation into public comments attributed to the officer is ongoing."
Rae refused to release the name of the officer suspended, saying "like any other investigation, it's not fair to say who it is before there is anything concrete or permanent comes out of it."
Sources have confirmed Hay is, however, the suspended officer.
With a force of only eight officers in total, Hay's absense has put a strain on the remaining members, said Senior Const. Ron Maracle, now the acting officer in charge with Tyendinaga Police. It also caused concern at the protest site.
"There was some tension last night as a result of it," Maracle said Thursday. "We're going to maintain our presence at the site, and hopefully their investigation will be quick."
Tyendinaga Police, he said, "will continue to maintain a working relationship with the OPP regarding this incident."
Ontario Provincial Police are still "assisting the Tyendinaga Police Service when required as they would do for us ... there is still a good working relationship there, and we are doing it in consultation with the community to make sure the best needs of the community are met," Rae said.
"As per the Police Services Act, the investigation is in accordance to the OPP's Commissioner's responsibilities - and we're doing that in consultation with the community."
In Ontario, there are three distinct arrangements for policing duties on First Nations territories: self-policing; using native officers appointed by the OPP and using the OPP exclusively.
With the first scenario, which is in place in Akwesasne Reserve near Cornwall, the First Nations government "Hire their own, train their own, etcetra," Rae said.
Meanwhile, on the Tyendinaga Territory, the officers are appointed, trained and supported administratively by provincial police, but essentially run as its own police service.
The third option, which is used by the Golden Lake Reserve near Ottawa, sees OPP as the exclusive law enforcement agency.
Rae, meanwhile, said the investigation into Hay's comments "is being conducted as quickly as possible."