Greetings,
I am writing you in regard to your recent comments on June 2, 2020, to CBC, in which you stated your belief that Canada doesn't have the "systemic, deep roots" of racism that the United States does. You have since retracted these comments and confirmed systemic racism is indeed an issue in Canada. I suspect that the outpouring of condemnation from the public at this remark was responsible for this sudden change of heart.
The murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, mirrored the murder of Eric Garner in New York in 2014; igniting protests across the U.S. and much of the world. This is in addition to the deaths, as a result of anti-Black racism, of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor months prior.
Here in Ontario we have many examples of racial injustice as well, including the murder of Andrew Loku in 2015, and the 2016 savage beating of teenager Dafonte Miller, both at the hands of Toronto police officers. The most recent deaths of D'Andre Campbell and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, have also sparked demonstrations in cities across the country, with thousands marching in Toronto last weekend.
Demonstrations such as these are sadly nothing new in this province. In 2016, the Toronto chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement staged months of protests, after the fatal shooting of Andrew Loku and the subsequent clearing of any charges by the Ontario's Special Investigations Unit.
In response to these protests and community pressure, the previous Liberal government created a new Anti-Racism Directorate position. This new position would help to increase the public’s awareness of systemic racism and apply an equity lens in developing and implementing government policies, programs and services.
Yet, when your government came into office, one of the first changes it made was to eliminate key equity Ministries, including the Anti-Racism Directorate. This decision was made despite the overwhelming data from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which confirmed that the Black community faces disproportionate discrimination and violence at the hands of police. In fact, the findings showed that Black residents in “Canada’s largest city are 20 times more likely to be shot dead by the police than white residents”.
The report also found that the practice of “carding”, (where police stop residents and collect personal information), often occurred without merit and resulted in unjustified searches and unnecessary charges against racialized and Indigenous people. In addition, the 7-year long report provides evidence that this practice causes irrevocable harm and is ineffective in stopping violent crime.
This decision to eliminate the Anti-Racism Directorate demonstrates your government’s failure to fight systemic racism and signals to the public that this is not a priority for you. For years the Black Lives Matter and Labour Movement have been lobbying all levels of government to put an end to the practice of police carding. You have the power to end this racist and damaging practice right now! Your office can direct the Police Service Boards and police chiefs to immediately end the practice of carding and delete all data collected through street checks.
Furthermore, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report has provided countless testimony on the pervasive injustices suffered by Indigenous people in this country. From that report, it was acknowledged and recommended that curriculum about residential schools, treaties and the lives of Indigenous people past and present be mandatory in schools to combat systemic racism. This was underway in Ontario, until your government cancelled the second session of the planned curriculum rewrites last year with only a few days’ notice. This is another example of the failure of your government to address systemic racism.
You are the political leader of this province and as such it is not only your words that impact our communities, but also your actions. These cuts signal to the public that combating oppression is not important to you and the lack of diversity in your Cabinet and fellow MPPs also speaks volumes.
I know that these are unprecedented times we are living in, combating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic of racism has been consistent and pervasive in our country since the very beginning. You and your government are in a position to make concrete changes to our institutions and systems in order to seek racial justice.
I urge you to take steps now and overturn your decision on the Anti-Racism Directorate, end the practice of carding, and begin collecting race-based data to identify systemic issues in our policing and justice systems.
In Solidarity,
Sharon DeSousa, PSAC Ontario Regional Executive Vice-President