RCMP have broken up an illegal MOU fighting ring operating in Ottawa and arrested dozens, the force announced on Thursday.
For months, Memoranda of Understandings from Indigenous organizations across the country had been pitted against each other in bloody combat for the enjoyment of policy analysts and other technicians. The MOU fights also involve high-stakes gambling, with some spectators betting thousands on certain matches, police said.
“There’s no place in the Nation’s capital for MOU-fighting and the illegal gambling that goes with it, and we are very pleased that we were able to shut down this operation,” RCMP Inspector Paulette Saphaida told reporters.
MOU welfare advocates rescued dozens of MOUs that were originally authored for everything from enhanced emergency services to Indigenous economic development. One high-profile MOU, signed between the federal government and AFN in 2017, was also freed.
A spokesperson from the Assembly of First Nations immediately went on the defensive, saying that no one in the organization’s upper echelons was aware of the MOU-fighting.
“This is obviously the dark work of a few rogue policy analysts and advisors,” said Ron Pelly, an AFN communications advisor. “This is obviously not what these MOUs were signed for and we condemn this illegal activity.”
Police said that several MOUs were found chained in a manner that suggested abuse and their participation in MOU-fighting. It could be months before they’re rehabilitated enough to be put back into circulation, while some may have to be tragically destroyed.
