KPS to get federal funds again

The federal government has agreed to extend funding for the Kanesatake Perimeter Security (KPS) team for a few more months, according to Quebec vice-premier Ian Lafrenière.

“The issue of safety in Kanesatake has been a major concern of mine for several years. Organized crime operates openly and without restraint. Community members are fed up - and rightly so. We recognize the work of the Kanesatake Perimeter Security Team, which has built a relationship of trust with the community and the SQ,” said Lafrenière in an email statement.

“I have spoken on several occasions with the federal ministers of Public Safety and Indigenous Services Canada to urge them to extend funding for the KPS. They have finally agreed to extend funding for a few more months.”

Lafrenière said he is also in talks to find long-term funding solutions to support the KPS, and said more announcements are coming soon.

Also, on July 9, Montour was informed that the First Nations Quebec-Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC) would extend the community mobilization fund for the KPS for the next three months once the current funding runs out.

“This funding keeps us going and keeps our work going, and more importantly keeps us there for the community,” said Montour. “Getting us funding keeps the team happy, everyone’s families happy, and the community gets to keep some sense of security with the KPS.”

This news comes at a time when the KPS is set to run out of funds in September after a two-year fund with the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador (AFNQL) was denied last month. The denied funds are under a children and families program that includes security initiatives.

The KPS and Mohawk Council of Kanesatake were surprised by the news of federal funding.

Both were gearing up to re-negotiate with the AFNQL and the MCK had earmarked $500,000 in funds to be diverted to the KPS so it may operate for another three months, said caretaker council member Brant Etienne.

He expects to speak about the KPS funding at the annual general assembly of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) next week in Ottawa.

Funding for the KPS hung by a thread multiple times this year, with the team’s five-year funding program having ended on March 31. The fund, which was under ISC’s sun-downed Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Program, had begun in 2021.

As a last-minute solution, the MCK re-allocated a community mobilization fund from First Nations Quebec-Labrador Health and Social Services Commission towards the KPS to cover expenses for six months, until September. The temporary solution funded the team of 12 full-time KPS employees.

This year, uncertainty over KPS funding threatened to diminish or remove their presence in a community that faces established organized crime groups and an increase in violent crime.

Last month, the community was shocked when the body of Ronnie Daniel Beltre Gonzalez, 24, was found at the site of the old Sulpician school in Kanesatake. The Surete du Quebec (SQ) charged Bryin Canadian Whitebean, 18 years old, with first-degree murder in connection with the alleged homicide.

Since 2021, the KPS has evolved from a COVID-19 response team to a security force that collaborates with the SQ, fire departments, and paramedic teams. The community has come to rely on the team as an essential service, choosing to call the KPS to intervene when emergencies happen.

“When we come up with a permanent plan, I’ll really celebrate,” said Montour. “But for now I’ll take the win and sleep a little better tonight.”

Indigenous Services Canada and the Ministry of Public Safety did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

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Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter