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Indigenous leaders in northern Ontario are calling on politicians to take action against illegal drugs and provide more resources to communities after an alleged drug-related shooting in a First Nation left one person dead and another injured.
Ontario Provincial Police issued a shelter-in-place order early Wednesday morning for residents in the area of Ginoogaming First Nation, saying officers were searching for two suspects believed to be armed and dangerous.
All public and Catholic schools in Long Lac and Long Lake #58 First Nation, as well as the Long Lac campus of Confederation College, were closed Wednesday and Thursday as police searched for the suspects. Police lifted the shelter-in-place order Thursday afternoon after determining there was no longer an active threat to public safety.
OPP said they had responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Echum Drive at around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, where one person was found dead and another injured.
Police said Thursday evening that two males had been arrested, but did not provide further details.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 51 First Nation communities across northern Ontario, alleged Thursday that the shooting was drug-related, prompting leaders to re-declare a state of emergency related to the “escalating crisis” of illegal drugs and deaths in Ginoogaming.
They had declared the state of emergency about a year and a half ago but little has been done since to address the crisis, said Ginoogaming First Nation Chief Sheri Taylor at a press conference Thursday.
“We have so much that we love and care for in our community. We have our young children and our youth — they need to feel safe in their own communities,” said Taylor. “Right now, we’re not feeling that way.”
OPP did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the alleged drug-related shooting.
Taylor urged the federal and Ontario governments to immediately provide a service delivery model that would give more resources to Indigenous communities to address the drug crisis.
“We are not going to sit back and just let this underground world of drugs and violence take over our community anymore,” said Taylor. “These are unprecedented times we’re dealing with.”
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler added that Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Mark Carney “have responsibilities that they need to live up to.”
“What we are calling on Canada and Ontario is to help us equip our leadership with the resources that they need and the tools that they will need to take back control of their communities,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.
Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press
