In mid-April, leaders from across Nunavik gathered in Montreal for the annual All Organizations Meeting, hosted by Makivvik from April 14–16. The meeting brought together representatives from regional institutions to coordinate action on the most urgent issues facing Nunavimmiut.
Public safety was one of the most prominent topics this year, with significant attention given to the challenges facing the Nunavik Police Force (NPS). Like many northern policing services, it continues to deal with staffing shortages, high turnover, and the demands of working across remote communities.
Recently appointed NPS Chief Jean-François Bernier was present on the opening day of the meeting for a wide-ranging discussion that lasted the entire day. Many questions were raised, and Chief Bernier took note of them to provide a written response, shared following this text.
Beyond immediate concerns, the meeting also focused on long-term governance and self-determination. Inuit leadership discussed the need to continue to push for greater control over decisions affecting Nunavik, building on decades of progress since the JBNQA.
Economic development remains a key priority, particularly as interest in Nunavik’s natural resources continues to grow. Leaders reiterated that any development must proceed with Inuit consent and meaningful participation. Balancing opportunity with responsibility was a recurring theme. Participants emphasized that economic growth must benefit communities directly while protecting the environment and preserving cultural values.
Housing, health, and social services were also discussed at length, as the housing shortage continues to affect nearly every aspect of life in Nunavik, contributing to overcrowding and increasing pressure on families and social services.
Leaders also highlighted the importance of supporting Nunavimmiut who travel south, as well as investing in youth. Education, cultural programs, and leadership development were all identified as essential to building a stronger future.
Nunavik Police Chief Jean-François Bernier provided a written response to the many questions raised during the first day of the All Organizations Meeting. It is reproduced here.
Following are the written responses, sent by email from the Nunavik Police Chief to Makivvik President Pita Aatami following the Chief’s appearance at the All Organizations Meeting in April:
Dear Mr. Aatami and representatives present at the 2026 Makivvik All Organizations Meeting and all those who followed
the meeting remotely,
As promised, here are written responses to questions or voiced opinions that were addressed to me following my PowerPoint presentation named Public Security in Nunavik: Preliminary observations and insights from the Chief Jean-François Bernier. The objective of this document is to clarify concerns raised and to promote transparency.
Q1: A point was made about lawyers leaking the identity of police informants. If true, that situation won’t encourage people to disclose information to the address tips@nunavikpolice.ca.
R1: Police officers, lawyers, and judges are all considered officers of the court and serve the justice system. They all have responsibilities regulated by their respective code of professional conduct. They all have joint responsibilities to protect the various actors of the justice system, such as victims, witnesses, and informants. If a police officer, a lawyer, or a judge intentionally leaks the identity of an informant, they may be terminated and charged criminally for obstruction of justice and/or breach of trust. Here is an example: Benoît Roberge, ex-cop, sentenced to 8 years for gangsterism | CBC News. Individuals with information regarding such misconduct are encouraged to contact me directly and without delay.
Q2: Prank calls to the police should be avoided, as should calling the police without pressing charges. This creates a vicious cycle. We must work with the police and not tolerate any form of violence, especially domestic violence and sexual offences.
R2: Prank calls to the police to force a house check are illegal and can be treated as a by-law offence, which may result in a fine. The police can also file a report with the Crown, which could lead to criminal charges for public mischief against the offender. This is becoming a trend in Nunavik, and the NPS is taking repressive and preventive measures against this type of offence. For example, a series of articles will appear in the Makivvik magazine. These articles, written by the NPS, aim to inform the public on topics such as scams, drug abuse, and alcohol intoxication, to name a few. Prank calls to the police are addressed in one of these articles.
For the 2nd part of the voiced opinion, I completely agree with the comment, and I support a zero-tolerance approach toward violence in Nunavik. Victims must speak up and press charges and we, as a community, we must fully support their actions and promote their courage. The NPS will always support the victims.
Q3: The delays for the court system to process a file in Nunavik are long. One of the consequences is that suspects often breach their conditions because it takes too long for their file to be processed.
R3: I completely agree. The Court system in Nunavik remains a significant challenge and is underperforming in the region compared to other regions in the province. It has nothing to do with the judges, the Crown attorneys or the defence lawyers. Everyone is doing their best, but the fact is that there are just not enough court dates. I recently received the Court calendar for the coming year, and there are 66 weeks of itinerant court week sessions planned for Nunavik. That means there will be several weeks when the court will be operating in different villages at the same time. It’s a valiant effort, but I’m convinced that we do need permanent court sessions in Nunavik, and I will continue to advocate for this to the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice.
Sidetracking from the question but for your information hopefully without getting too technical, two important Supreme Court decisions (R v Jordan and R v Cody) fundamentally shape how criminal cases are handled in Canada, and their effects are especially pronounced in Nunavik. Under R v Jordan (2016), the Supreme Court of Canada imposed strict presumptive ceilings, 18 months for provincial court cases and 30 months for superior court cases, beyond which delays are presumed to violate an accused person’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time and may result in a dismissal of proceedings. R v Cody (2017) refined this framework by requiring all participants in the justice system, including police, Crown, defence, and courts, to take active and reasonable steps to move cases forward, while excluding defence-caused or defence-waived delay from the calculation. In Nunavik, these principles create significant pressure because the justice system relies on circuit courts serving remote fly-in communities, is vulnerable to weather disruptions, and depends on limited resources such as judges, lawyers, interpreters, and court staff. Delays that were once viewed as unavoidable realities of the North are now more difficult to justify, increasing the risk that cases may be dismissed if they exceed Jordan timelines. As a result, justice actors in Nunavik must prioritize cases carefully, streamline investigations and disclosure, seek early resolutions where appropriate, and manage files promptly. This means that police investigations, evidence disclosure, and court preparation must all move as efficiently as possible. It is also one of the reasons why the NPS must continue to strengthen its investigative capacity, so that files are ready sooner and can proceed through the courts without unnecessary delay.
Regarding condition breaches, we have no choice but to enforce them and file a report to the Crown. These are Court orders; the police officer cannot use his police discretion. It’s not like a ticket that the police officer chose not to give. But a way to work the problem is to use our mobile intervention teams (MIT Saqijuq – NPS) teams to meet with the suspect after the offence to review his conditions with him and take the time to answer is questions and make sure he fully understands. Spot checks can be made from time to time to ensure understanding remains on par with the Court’s expectations.
Q4: Can the NPS take disciplinary measures against suspects instead of processing them through the Court system?
R4: No, we cannot. The NPS cannot impose disciplinary measures on members of the public, as such measures apply only within an employer–employee relationship. However, we have an Ordinance of Internal Discipline for Members of the Nunavik Police Service applicable to all NPS police officers. Any breach will trigger a disciplinary hearing that will be conducted by me, the Chief of Police.
Q5: To file a complaint and be believed, the population needs evidence. If you just send the information to
tips@nunavikpolice.ca nothing happens.
R5: Gathering evidence is the job of the police officers. But we do need public information to proceed successfully with conclusive investigations. The more information, the better. Even if the information is fragmentary or incomplete, it is the police’s job to corroborate it into useful facts that can be used to obtain warrants, conduct seizures, and file reports with the Crown, thereby pressing charges.
A word on the tips@nunavikpolice.ca address. It is the best way to give us information, and it’s 100% confidential. That is why, if you send us an email, you will not receive any response from us. We do that for your protection; you never know who could access your mailbox, either by negligence or by other means like hacking. We don’t take any chances with confidentiality.
Lastly, investigations into drug trafficking, bootlegging, and human trafficking take time. There is a lot of strategy involved. It’s a game of cat and mouse in which time is always a factor. It’s never as simple as, Mr. X is selling drugs, he’s at house # X go arrest him. Police have to corroborate the information they have, conduct surveillance, confirm the information, gather evidence, get a warrant from a judge, proceed with the bust, seize the drugs, gather more evidence, arrest the suspect and bring him to justice.
To do that, the NPS needs to know what the public knows. And in Nunavik, a lot of people know. We need the public’s collaboration moving forward.
Q6: Is it possible to increase the training of new police officers on the Inuit way of life and traditions?
R6: Yes, it’s possible, and we will strengthen our onboarding training as soon as we get the opportunity. At this time, new police officers must take online courses provided by the Laval University. The first course, Inuit Cultural Competency Training – Step 1, is a one to two-hour introduction, while the second course, Inuit Cultural Competency Training – Step 2, is 9 hours. While the courses themselves are very informative, nothing comes close to having actual interaction on the land with Inuit community members. I have a firm intention to develop a Step 3 course on the land with the help of other community members. I have begun discussions with Saqijuq on this topic to evaluate our possibilities to develop the experience together to improve the cultural onboarding of our new police officers.
Q7: Opinions were expressed regarding ongoing investigations, including missing-person and/or murder investigations or cold cases.
R7: For reasons of confidentiality and investigative integrity, I cannot comment publicly on these files. If you are a family member or believe you are entitled to receive information from the NPS regarding specific police investigations, please contact me directly at jfbernier@nunavikpolice.ca.
Q8: The language barrier makes it difficult for Inuit people to file complaints against police officers. We need help with this. What can be done?
R8: Police officers are ethically obliged to assist a person who wishes to file a complaint. This is set out in the Code of ethics of Québec police officers, which every police officer, from the rank of constable to the rank of Chief, must follow. That being said, I fully agree that we have to do better, and there is a way to better assist our population if they want to complain about the poor performance of a service they receive. In the short term, as soon as I select an Inuk Special Advisor to the Chief, this will be one of the many mandates that I will give them. In the long term, I think it would be interesting to explore how we could select an ombudsman for all KRG services, including the NPS. An ombudsman is an independent and impartial official who helps residents resolve complaints or concerns about a municipal government’s services, decisions, or conduct. Their role is to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability in how the municipality treats the public.
Q9: A preoccupation was raised about using commercial flights to transfer detainees.
R9: The NPS uses charter flights to transfer our detainees from our hubs towards the Amos Provincial Detention Center. But we do have to rely on commercial flights to transfer detainees from the smaller villages to our hubs. Logistically, we are unable to charter 100% of our detainee transfers.
Q10: An opinion was voiced about having more NPS visits and conferences in schools, and that NPS should do more prevention or intervene with partners like Saqijuq.
R10: Under my vision for the NPS, the Prevention Unit will grow from three constables to two sergeants and four constables assigned full-time to the prevention unit, effectively doubling the number of officers assigned to prevention work. As far as working with Saqijuq, this partnership has my full support moving forward. I’ve already had two great meetings with Lukasi Whiteley-Tukkiapik and his team, and we have agreed to support each other’s efforts as much as possible, including the deployment of mobile intervention teams (MIT) in Salluit following the success that we are seeing in Puvirnituq and Kuujjuaq. When the MIT teams are available, they are involved in 85% of the NPS’s calls for service.
Q11: An opinion was voiced about the need to teach the Inuit people their responsibilities towards the Law. Perhaps by making appearances on the FM Radio and talking about those things.
R11: Again, I completely agree but sharing knowledge about citizen responsibilities towards the Law is one thing, in a wider proposition, I’m convinced that the NPS has the responsibility towards the communities we serve to explain what we are doing, how we are running our operations and what we expect from the population we serve in regards to obeying the law that’s one thing but as a higher preoccupation, how the population we serve can assist the NPS in being successful in its mandate to guarantee a secure environment for Nunavimmiut to raise their families and live their lives in security.
Q12: Police officers need to meet with the mayors of the 14 Northern Villages and their teams.
R12: This approach is already in place. NPS management asks its police officers to meet with mayors and their teams at least once a month to discuss local issues. I asked the mayors to contact me directly if this directive isn’t followed in their communities.
Q13: We need to keep hard drugs out of Nunavik.
R13: Of course, we all cherish and value this important goal. More realistically, we have to look at creative ways to make it increasingly difficult for drug traffickers to take advantage of the high demand for their drugs in Nunavik. Drug trafficking isn’t different from other commodities; the demand will attract suppliers. It’s a business. Currently, crack cocaine is popular throughout the region, and we see methamphetamine growing in popularity in Kangiqsualujjuaq and Kuujjuaq. Crack cocaine’s main problem is that the drug’s potency and its means of consumption create a quick addiction for the user. And, once you’re addicted, other problems often occur.
On the methamphetamine side, it’s not any better. Although methamphetamines are less potent towards addiction in the sense that it will take more time for a meth user to develop an addiction, one of the methamphetamine’s bad sides is that meth pills are increasingly contaminated by fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is so potent that, even in minimal dosage, can create a respiratory depression serious enough to inflict death upon the user. Naloxone is an antidote that can be used by police officers, first responders on calls, but Naloxone will be ineffective on Crack-cocaine users.
The NPS will continue to brief the health services on the toxicity of the drugs found in Nunavik. And, if we have information about a drug trafficker who sells fentanyl-contaminated meth, they will become a high-priority target for our investigators because of the immediate threat that they represent to the public.
Q14: Can Inuit police officers work in other villages so they are not forced to police their own family members?
R14: Yes, absolutely. Not only is it possible, but it is encouraged. Inuit police officers have the same benefits as their non-Inuit colleagues. I will always offer an Inuk police officer the option to work in any other village, including on the opposite coast, if they want. We will provide them with housing while they work, just as we do for non-Inuit officers. Same positions, same working agreement, same benefits, same treatment, same opportunities for all police officers. Having Inuit police officers who can understand and speak Inuktitut is very important to me, and we will make constant recruiting efforts to recruit Inuit police officers and provide equal benefits and support.
Furthermore, the NPS recently relaunched its cadet program. We have hired two coordinators, one of whom is Inuk, who are actively working to rebuild our program to increase our chances of recruiting quality Inuit police officers.
Q15: An opinion was voiced regarding the level of exposure to violence that the NPS police officers must endure, noting that it must be hard for them sometimes to leave the peace and quiet of their homes in the south to come north and be exposed to chaos.
R15: Police officers are trained to intervene in the darkest of circumstances. But to be effective, they must be emotionally and psychologically grounded. Our two-week-on/two-week-off schedule is useful for giving officers time to recover and regroup so they can be as effective as possible when serving their villages in Nunavik. Regarding our working schedules, just for your information, aside from a couple of “floaters” who are deployed in villages as operational needs arise, the vast majority of police officers are assigned to a village for a minimum of two years, and they are always deployed in these villages to perform their duty to the population. This is to create strong bonds between the officers and the local population. We want the police officers to identify with their assigned Northen Village inhabitants and vice versa, we want the local population to create strong bonds with their police officers. My goal is to have police officers as stable as I can in their assigned villages. In the upcoming years, I will also seek ways to promote officer wellness within the NPS.
Q16: I heard that you need at least six different informants or sources of information to investigate a bootlegging case.
R16: It’s never a matter of quantity; the judge will always assess whether the police officer has reasonable grounds to proceed, so it’s more a question of quality. A single piece of information or one informant could suffice, depending on its quality.
Q17: Inuit people need to be served in Inuktitut.
R17: I completely agree. I fully recognize the importance of ensuring that Inuit people can access services in Inuktitut, and we are prepared to invest in solutions to improve accessibility. We are actively reviewing the options available, including technological tools that could facilitate access to qualified interpreters. At the present time, however, and to the best of my knowledge, there is unfortunately no reliable technology capable of providing accurate real-time interpretation between Inuktitut and English or French at the level required for police services.
In parallel, in the coming months, the NPS plan to hire administrative technicians who speak Inuktitut at each
police detachment. This local presence will help facilitate communication directly within the communities.
Conclusion
These responses reflect my personal views as Chief of Police. The discussions during the All Organizations Meeting highlighted the importance of collective action. Public safety in Nunavik can only be strengthened through collaboration among all organizations and communities.
The objective of this presentation was to proceed to a reality check and raise awareness. I was pleased to hear the comments around the table. There were several calls to action, and I can’t stress this enough: there is only one way to succeed: every organization has to work as a team to tackle our Public Security Challenges for the sake of the younger generations.
Lastly, the police audit asked by KRG and Makivvik produced 35 high-quality recommendations. I will be closely working with the KRG Director General’s office and the Public Safety Committee (which is co-chaired by Makivvik and KRG) to review and implement the recommendations.
I hope these responses can answer most of the questions raised. I couldn’t reply to all for time reasons. It is important for me to give my responses by the end of this important All Organizations Meeting.
Thank you again, Mr. Aatami, for giving a new chief of police the opportunity to address the Nunavik’s leaders directly. It is a great opportunity for me to learn more about the various challenges we face as a society in Nunavik.
Sincerely,
Jean-François Bernier Chief of police Nunavik Police Service
