Crime has spiked since treaty settlement money was released, Wikwemikong police say

Wikwemikong police on Manitoulin Island provide updated crime statistics for the first time since Robinson Huron Treaty settlement payments were made.

According to statistics gathered by Wikwemikong police, crime has increased substantially in the community since the summer of 2024, when money from a major treaty settlement was disbursed to residents.

In his fall newsletter, Wikwemikong Police Chief Ron Gignac said statistics show a substantial increase in calls for service, arrests and charged persons since the Robinson Huron Treaty per capita distributions were issued in late summer of 2024.

“What I wanted to do was provide a frame and a metric from year to year to see if there was any impact upon the community, the citizens here and on the police service,” Gignac said.

“And our statistics said that, yes, there was a dramatic increase in the amount of police responses following the per capita distributions.”

Since last summer, the number of people charged with crimes is up more than 70 per cent, motor vehicle crashes are up 69 per cent and drug possession cases and traffic complaints increased by 81 per cent.

At the same time, increased funding has allowed them to substantially grow the size of the police force, increasing their capacity to enforce the law.

“When you look at the charged persons, adult females and males, that’s as a result of more proactive initiatives, as well,” Gignac said.

“We’ve initiated those things right here in the community. And what I find is they’re having a drastic impact on charges.”

Ogimaa Tim Ominika said they knew the funds were going to have a major impact and they tried to prepare as much as they could.

Beyond what was expected

While the impact was beyond what they expected, Ominika said tribal police have done a great job with the challenges they faced.

“We were … not really aware of how much it was really going to impact our community,” he said.

“I’m very proud of our First Nation police force … for them doing all the work that they have to do. And it was because of that additional source funding that we got from the government for a 10-year police agreement, which allows them to build the capacity to ensure that they are protecting our First Nation community to combat illicit drugs and the crime rates that are increasing.”

Ominika said the funding agreement allowed the service to grow from 15 officers to more than 30. The hope is to have up to 50 officers and civilian staff hired in the near future.

“All of our initiatives, the specialty units that we’ve been building, enhanced drug strategies that we’ve been employing are all going towards achieving a safe and vibrant community here,” Gignac said.

He said it’s important for him to share the community newsletter to provide transparency.

“We need the full support of our community and our community leadership, and we have that and we’re working towards achieving great things in the times to come,” Gignac said.