Manitoba AG Andrew Swan criticizes Ottawa for cutting front-line policing on province’s reserves

Manitoba Attorney General Andrew Swan criticized Ottawa for cutting front-line policing on the province’s reserves, saying it was part of a federal “line of attack” on First Nation communities. A CTV report state the 45-year-old program on First Nations policing that works in partnership with the RCMP will end in just over a year. “This is a continuing line of attacks on Aboriginal people by the federal government,” Swan told a provincial NDP convention on Feb. 9. “The Conservative government tells us they’re about law and order. They may be about law but they’re sure as hell not about order.” The report said Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney has offered cash to replace the program, but it would fund only about 15 new RCMP officers. Swan said they couldn’t cover the same ground as the constables.