Province not pursuing ‘key recommendation’ calling for task force on systemic racism in policing

New Brunswick’s Liberal government has officially responded to commissioner Manju Varma’s report on systemic racism by establishing an Anti-Racism Office and a website that shows the status of recommendations that were published more than three years ago.

Of those 86 recommendations, published in Dec. 2022, the government says that more than half are either complete or underway, and about one-fifth are coming soon. But some significant initiatives related to policing and the justice system have fallen by the wayside, at least for now.

The update prompted criticism from Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc. and Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick, which renewed longstanding calls for an Indigenous-led public inquiry into systemic racism in the justice system.

On Friday morning, Post-Secondary Education and Training Minister Jean-Claude D’Amours held a media conference that was notable for its lack of detail.

During the briefing, which was livestreamed, D’Amours announced the new website detailing the status of the recommendations, but it wasn’t available to reporters until later in the morning.

The Minister dodged questions from the NB Media Co-op about the status of specific recommendations.

For example, the Varma report called for a “task force focused on dismantling systemic racism in New Brunswick policing” co-chaired by Indigenous and Black communities. Varma’s report called that one of the “key recommendations.”

Asked about the status of that task force, D’Amours was evasive. “We will work with the recommendations… this is not the end,” he said, in part. “We will continue the discussion with the First Nation communities.” Later, the new website showed that the task force is not currently in the cards.

The website lists Varma’s recommendations, labelling 51 of them as “Completed/Underway” and 16 “To be initiated.” The other 19 recommendations — including the task force — are relegated to a category called “Other.”

D’Amours referenced those items during the media briefing. “The remaining recommendation we are not currently pursuing for various reasons,” he said, without specifying any of the recommendations in question.

“For example, duplication, lack of available data, legislative requirements, or the requirement of action beyond the provincial government.”

These latest developments can be traced back to June 2020, when two Indigenous people in New Brunswick were fatally shot by police within eight days of each other: Chantel Moore, 26, of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, and Rodney Levi, 48, of Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation.

Varma’s report called for the government to address recommendations from the coroner’s inquests into their deaths “without delay.” However, the new website places that call in the “other” category, signaling that it isn’t currently in the works or expected to begin anytime soon.

The inquest into Levi’s death recommended, in part, that “in situations involving mental wellness checks on First Nations, RCMP should not be the first responder – but be on standby for Mobile Crisis Units or an Aboriginal liaison for the community.”

Asked about progress towards those goals, D’Amours didn’t respond directly but indicated that the new Anti-Racism Office will work towards “a New Brunswick free of racism.”

Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc., which represents Mi’kmaq communities in New Brunswick, issued a statement on Friday afternoon, saying that the update failed to address issues raised by the group.

“It remains clear that if our justice system is going to become more equitable for all, we need an Indigenous-led public inquiry on systemic racism in New Brunswick’s justice system,” MTI stated.

MTI and the Mi’kmaq chiefs weren’t asked to provide any input for Friday’s status updates or the creation of the Anti-Racism Office, according to the statement.

The group stressed that Indigenous people face “unique and widespread” forms of racism distinct from the experiences of other racialized people in New Brunswick.

“By lumping all racialized groups together, the Government of New Brunswick seems to think that the needs and challenges of all minority communities are the same,” Chief George Ginnish of Natoaganeg said in the statement. “This perpetuates the paternalistic approach the provincial government uses against Indigenous people in New Brunswick.”

Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick also issued a statement attributed to Chief Allan Polchies of Sitansisk that said its citizens “are among those most deeply and consistently harmed by systemic racism in New Brunswick’s justice system.”

The statement continued: “Our Nation has never supported the recent report, as we were not involved in its development and were never consulted. Any examination of systemic racism must meaningfully centre Indigenous realities as the First Peoples of this land and reflect the unique harms caused by colonial laws and justice systems.”

“We believe an inquiry is necessary to ensure our voices are heard and to produce recommendations with real authority. This report cannot be relied upon as a credible foundation for action or reform,” the statement added.

Varma’s study was published during the tenure of then-premier Blaine Higgs, who was widely criticized for his Tory government’s antagonistic relationship with Indigenous communities.

In their 2024 platform, the Liberal Party pledged to rebuild relations with First Nations and to “immediately review and respond to the Systemic Racism Commissioner’s Final Report, working on a timely plan to implement its recommendations.”

Demands for a public inquiry followed the fatal police shootings of Moore and Levi in June 2022 — the Attorney General chose not to prosecute the officers who pulled the trigger in those cases — and the hit-and-run death of Brady Francis, 22, of Elsipogtog First Nation, a case in which the prime suspect was acquitted.

The summer of 2020 saw widespread protests against police brutality internationally following the brutal murder of George Floyd, an African American man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis who was eventually sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.

At the time, First Nations chiefs in New Brunswick called repeatedly for an Indigenous-led public inquiry, citing generations of racism and discrimination.

The Higgs government eventually appointed Varma as commissioner, handing her a weaker mandate to study systemic racism province-wide, without the investigative powers of a public inquiry. The process was ultimately boycotted by First Nations chiefs amid allegations of political interference.

In September 2024, Steven “Iggy” Dedam, 34, of Elsipogtog First Nation was fatally shot by an RCMP officer while experiencing a mental health crisis in his home. His killing was investigated by the Serious Incident Response Team, which found there were “no reasonable grounds” to believe that the police officer had broken the law.

In its statement, MTI said that a public inquiry is required to understand the extent of systemic racism in New Brunswick and to formulate a plan to address it.

“If the province had accepted this in 2020, we could be well on our way to see improvements when it comes to racism in this province,” Chief Bill Ward of Metepenagiag said in the statement.

Other justice-related recommendations from Varma’s report included mandatory anti-racist and trauma-informed education for Justice and Public Safety employees, “including officers of the court.”

That work is “to be initiated,” the website states, adding that more than 220 employees from Justice and Public Safety and the Office of the Attorney General have taken part in “Cultural Safety and Awareness Training offered by the Department of Indigenous Affairs” since 2024.

Recommendations that are completed or underway included programs to improve the justice system through the presence of Indigenous court workers tasked with writing Gladue reports. Those reports inform judges before sentencing about an Indigenous person’s history and the effects of colonialism on their lives.

Indigenous court worker services can be found in Eastern and Western New Brunswick, as well as the Saint John Courthouse, according to the website.

Updated on Jan. 19, 2026 at 12:15 p.m.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.