Opinion
Addressing anti-Black racism in Canada requires concrete action, not empty gestures
By Alex Neve and France-Isabelle Langlois June 22, 2020
All of this requires broad and time-bound consultations about community-led proposals that reimagine and propose new, transformative approaches to upholding public safety and setting and apportioning police budgets in ways that end racism and uphold human rights. Now is the time to advance this agenda of change.
Thousands of anti-Black racism and anti-racism protesters demonstrated on Parliament Hill on June 5, 2020. Too often the excuse provided with respect to advancing police reforms of any nature in Canada is that it is complicated because of competing jurisdictions. The federal government can begin by expressly prohibiting carding, street checks and racial profiling by policing and law enforcement agencies under federal jurisdiction, including the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency, write Alex Neve and France-Isabelle Langlois. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers has sparked outrage across Canada, with numerous demonstrations, rallies, and vigils highlighting the realities of anti-Black racism and associated police violence in this country.
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