First Nations in Saskatchewan say an agreement to bolster policing services on reserves is not working out as promised.

“Enough is enough,” Delbert Wapass, a vice-chief with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, told CBC News. “The RCMP are supposed to be there. They’re not there. Where are they?”

According to the federation, 30 First Nations in Saskatchewan have signed agreements with the federal and provincial governments that say designated RCMP officers will devote 80 per cent of their time to a particular reserve.

The provincial government, which oversees the delivery of policing services, acknowledges the agreements are valid.

But officials cite problems, including a lack of space.

“In many communities there aren’t police offices on the reserve,” said Murray Sawatsky, executive director of policing services for Saskatchewan. “There aren’t accommodation for members.”

Wapass says the excuse about accommodation doesn’t wash.

“The things we’ve been hearing is that ‘well, ‘you know, if there was a place for the RCMP to be, if this was set up, and we need this, we need that … we’d be there.’”

In fact, Moosomin and other First Nations have provided space for the RCMP, Wapass said, so “it’s leaning over to excuses.”

Insp. Bob Mills, one of the top RCMP administrators in Saskatchewan, said the problem is a lack of Mounties to meet the commitment to First Nations.

RCMP eager to improve service

“From our perspective we had one guy out there doing a job in a given community and we still got one guy out there doing a job in a given community,” Mills said. “So if there were an agreement on enhancement, certainly in many cases we weren’t resourced to deliver it.”

Mills added that RCMP officers are keen to provide better service.

“You go out and talk to our members who are providing that service and they’ll give you those same frustrations,” Mills said. “They really want to contribute to making these communities safe, but they’re pulled in too many directions.”