The Intersection seminar welcomes the FNQLHSSC to talk about abuse awareness in the context of First Nations

Feb 20, 2020

Annually, community police officers from Quebec participate in the Séminaire Intersection, an event aimed at bringing police services and citizens together. The event’s speakers included Maude Ostiguy-Lauzon for the FNQLHSSC and Véronique Chicoine for the Sûreté du Québec.

Annually, community police officers from Quebec participate in the Séminaire Intersection, an event aimed at bringing police services and citizens together. The Gatineau police department organized the 2019 edition of the seminar on the theme of innovative and dynamic prevention on a daily basis: a commitment without borders for citizen security. The event’s speakers included Maude Ostiguy-Lauzon, Elder Wellness Coordinator for the FNQLHSSC, and Véronique Chicoine, Sergeant and Local Community Police Coordinator for the Sûreté du Québec, RCM of Sept-Rivières. Ms. Ostiguy-Lauzon and Ms. Chicoine offered an awareness workshop on elder abuse in the First Nations context.

Police from the communities of Wendake, Essipit and Akwesasne, the Kativik Regional Police Force (Nunavik), the Sûreté du Québec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as other municipal police forces attended the presentation. The purpose of the seminar was to promote police interventions that are geared towards problem-solving, to apply the strengthening of preventive actions, to encourage partnership with representatives of the community, and to foster reconciliation between police officers and citizens. This training also aimed to raise awareness among police regarding the context, realities and specific disparities between the different First Nations and Inuit communities by addressing various concepts such as cultural safety and the holistic approach. Harm reduction, the importance of building trust and understanding the realities of the resources available to seniors in the communities were also discussed.

Filled with sharing and emotions, the workshop was one of the favourites of the seminar and the themes affecting First Nations should be addressed at the next seminar in 2020.

NT5