Police Brutality in Canada

Dear reader, We are writing about the concerns youth have for the way police enforcement is treating people of colour. Recently in the media, there has been more coverage of the discrimination towards people of different races and ethnicities by police officers. This has brought more attention to an issue that has been ongoing for years and has led many of Canada's youth to educate themselves on the matter. Canada's youth are the future; we want to know that we are involved in and have a say in what is and will be planned to prevent police brutality. The issue of police brutality towards minorities is conveyed as a rare occurrence or merely an accident. However, when searching for Canadian cases of police brutality, the following statement from the Ontario Human Rights Commission appears, "A Black person in Toronto was nearly 20 times more likely than a White person to be involved in a fatal shooting by the Toronto Police Service." This statement, though isolated to one city, has sparked rage and fear in activist groups. Unfortunately, Black men and women aren't the only victims of racism from the police. Indigenous men and women have also been injured and killed by law enforcement. Over ten years (between 2007 and 2017), one-third of people shot to death by RCMP officers are indigenous people. Regis Korchinski-Paquet was a black, Indigenous woman who was killed in May 2020. Her death inspired protests in Canada for anti- Indigenous and anti-Black racism. The situation that ended in her death had many conflicting reports before an investigation was started. All officers were cleared of any wrongdoing, and the death was ruled an accident. Even though it was ruled an accident and there was no foul-play, her family continued with a private investigation. The family believes her death could have been prevented. Even though this is not confirmed and there are opposing reports, many believe that Regis Korchinski-Paquet's death was caused by police racially profiling her. As youth, we are influenced by what we are taught in school, what our parents/guardians teach us, and what we are exposed to via the media. So, when there are conflicting reports about an incident, youth will pick a side of the story to believe, depending on political views. In the media lately, there have been slogans thrown around. Black Lives Matter (BLM), All Lives Matter, and Blue Lives Matter. These all are controversial and represent how different groups of people feel. Those who march in the protests we have seen in the news usually hold signs saying BLM. This has come under fire for declaring that only one race matters. But, many have come to the slogan's defence, saying that all lives matter doesn't work with systematic racism, and black lives matter is to solely highlight the racial discrimination that is often directed towards black people. The groups of people who prefer to say All Lives Matter believe that a single race should not be singled out if everybody is equal. Blue Lives Matter refers to police officers. They advocate for the conviction of those who kill police officers. In May of this year, an incident that ended with a black man's death sparked anger worldwide. In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is the Liberal party leader, said, "These are not isolated incidents or elsewhere problems... The calls for justice, for equality, for peace have found an echo in our communities because anti-Black racism is also happening here. Everywhere in Canada. Every single day." He continued by saying that the government has been taking action by donating money to support groups for young Black Canadians and making investments in funding for mental health services for those who experienced discrimination. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh responded to this in the House of Commons, saying that Trudeau needs to actually do something with his power rather than make speeches. "...people are done with pretty speeches, particularly pretty speeches from people in power...". Many political parties have released statements on police brutality. The Green Party of Canada said that Canada is not immune to racism (referring to the George Floyd accident). The party's interim leader said, "We must confront it whenever and wherever it appears and not let it take root." The Ontario NDP said that "It is clear that protecting Black, Indigenous and racialized lives urgently require an unprecedented and historic shift in the way we view policing and the health and safety of our communities." The Conservative party never released a statement about police brutality after the events of this past year. However, you can find their plans to help keep law enforcement safe. Regardless of their differences in beliefs, several political parties have the same status on this subject. There is racism in Canada. We can not be oblivious or ignorant of it. We must take action against it. And this is what we are asking you. To let us be a part of the effort. The planning for the future. So that men and women of colour can feel safe when confronted by police and people in general. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact us through our email canadianyouthlettersproject@gmail.com. Thank you very much for your time, and we look forward to your response. Sincere regards, The Canadian Youth Letters Project. Sources: Liberal Party of Canada “Justin Trudeau’s Address to parliament on Anti- Black Racism in Canada” https://liberal.ca/justin-trudeaus-address-to-parliament-on-anti-black- racism-in-canada/ New York Times, What Top Conservatives Are Saying About George Floyd and Police Brutality” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/us/politics/george-floyd-tucker- carlson-rush-limbaugh.html Conservative Party of Canada “A Safer Canada: Equipping Police to Protect” https://www.conservative.ca/a-safer-canada-equipping-police-to- protect/ Bloc Québécois * Canada’s National Observer, Carl Meyer “Bloc leader tries to define systematic racism on his own” https://www.nationalobserver.com/ 2020/06/19/news/bloc-leader-tries-define-systemic-racism-his-own Ontario New Democratic Party “End Police Violence. Invest in Black Indigenous and Racialized People’s Lives.” https://www.ontariondp.ca/end-police-violence Ontario New Democratic Party “NDP releases commitments to end police violence, overhaul mental health crisis response, and incest in Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities” https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/ ndp-releases-commitments-end-police-violence-overhaul-mental-health- crisis-response-and-invest Green Party of Canada “Green Party condemns racism and violence” https://www.greenparty.ca/en/statement/2020-06-01/green-party- condemns-racism-and-violenc”Green Party of Canada ”Green Party calls for national inquiry into possible white supremacist infiltration of Canadian law enforcement agencies” https://www.greenparty.ca/en/media-release/2020-06-04/green-party-calls- national-inquiry-possible-white-supremacist-infiltration Ontario Human Rights Commission “A Collective Impact: Interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service” http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/public-interest-inquiry- racial-profiling-and-discrimination-toronto-police-service/collective-impact- interim-report-inquiry-racial-profiling-and-racial-discrimination- black#Executive%20summary The Tyee, Natasha Simpson “Canada Has Race-Based Police Violence Too. We Don’t Know How Much” https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2020/06/02/ Canada-Race-Based-Violence/ https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2020/07/15/police-brutality-in-canada-a- symptom-of-structural-racism-and-colonial-violence/ *I’m picking from the paragraph - it picks from the OHRC link above* “These acts of colonial violence on Indigenous bodies continue to happen in Canada. Both Indigenous and Black people are overwhelmingly overrepresented in police-involved deaths in Canada. Between 2007 and 2017, Indigenous peoples represented one third of people shot to death by RCMP police officers (Mercer, Fiddler, & Walsh, 2020). The Ontario Human Rights Commission found that a Black person was more than 20 times more likely to be shot and killed by the police compared to a white person (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2018).” Wikipedia “Death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Death_of_Regis_Korchinski-Paquet CTV News, Ryan Flanagan “Why are Indigenous people in Canada so much more likely to be shot and killed by police?” https://www.ctvnews.ca/ canada/why-are-indigenous-people-in-canada-so-much-more-likely-to-be- shot-and-killed-by-police-1.4989864 CTV News, Rachel Aiello “PM Trudeau called to go beyond ‘pretty words’ on racism in Canada” https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pm-trudeau-called-to- go-beyond-pretty-words-on-racism-in-canada-1.4965923 CBC News “Black lives, blue lives, all lives: What does it mean when we say certain lives matter?” https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/black-lives- police-1.3679595 Written by Atlas