“A matter of life and death”: Northern NDP MPPs call for urgent action from the Ontario government on public safety in NAN First Nations

THUNDER BAY and SIOUX LOOKOUT – Deputy Leader and Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa and Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois have released a statement in response to the State of Emergency and Public Safety Crisis declared by Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) calling on the Ontario Government to take urgent action to address the public safety crises faced in NAN First Nations.

MPP Mamakwa, the NDP’s Shadow Minister for Indigenous and Treaty Relations, expressed solidarity with NAN First Nations. “While not new, the concerns about public safety in northern First Nations have escalated in recent years, as drug trafficking and gang violence has become more prevalent across Northern Ontario. The people profiting from the drug trade are taking advantage of the mental health and additions struggles of people living in northern First Nations, with devastating consequences.”

NAN’s declaration came as residents of Ginoogaming First Nation sheltered-in-place for two days under the advice of the Ontario Provincial Police and Anishinabek Police Service, as they searched for two individuals considered armed and dangerous. MPP Vaugeois said: “I have been staying in Longlac this week to visit schools and attend community events, all of which had to be cancelled because of the threat to the safety of the three communities in this area: Ginoogaming, Long Lake #58 and the town of Longlac.”

“I have been hearing from First Nations for several years about the infiltration of their communities by armed drug dealers and the lack of police services to charge and remove these criminals from their communities. No one should be facing these risks or have their lives disrupted because of gangs acting with impunity and insufficient tools to remove them.”

“Public safety also requires a justice system and policing practices that protect our community members,” Mamakwa added. “We have seen too many police-involved shootings tragically take the lives of First Nations people in the far North over recent months and years.”

“We call on the Ontario government to respond comprehensively and without delay to the issues raised by Nishnawbe Aski Nation in their declaration of the State of Emergency. These issues are a matter of life and death for community members from the NAN First Nations, and the government continues to put their lives to the side.”

Quick Facts:

• Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s Executive Council, along with Chiefs and other leadership, held a press conference on community safety today where they declared a State of Emergency and Public Safety Crisis in NAN territory on the flow of illegal drugs, drug-related violence and deaths in their communities. NAN Chiefs are calling on their Treaty Partners (the governments of Ontario and Canada) to properly resource NAN First Nations to address these crises and to hold immediate meetings with NAN’s leadership to create an effective action plan.
• At their 2025 General Assembly in early September, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Chiefs voted to call on the federal government to take urgent action on the issue of drug trafficking in First Nations and called for the AFN to declare a State of Emergency on the matter.
• On October 8, 2025, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Anishinabek Police Service issued a shelter-in-place advisory in Ginoogaming First Nation which continued well into its second day, with a number of schools in the area are closed as a precautionary measure. This came after Ginoogaming First Nation declared a State of Emergency in May 2024 due to the alarming increase in violence, drugs and alcohol-related crimes they faced. Ginoogaming Chief Sheri Taylor announced that she will be reissuing the State of Emergency.
• In July 2025 alone, there were two fatal police shootings of community members in NAN First Nations, taking the lives of Eric Nothing (40) and Tyresse Kenny Padro Cree Roundsky (23). The second of these fatal shootings occurred inside a temporary courtroom in Wapekeka First Nation.
• Eric Nothing’s death came only one year after his father, Bruce Frogg (57) was fatally shot by a police officer in Kenora. On July 2, 2025, NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler released a statement rejecting the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) report which cleared the Ontario Provincial Police of criminal conduct in Frogg's death.