Systemic Racism In Policing In Canada

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Report of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security

Hon. John McKay, Chair

JUNE 2021

PARLIAMENT, 2

SESSION

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SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING IN CANADA

Report of the Standing Committee on

Public Safety and National Security

Hon. John McKay

Chair

JUNE 2021

PARLIAMENT, 2

SESSION

NOTICE TO READER

Reports from committees presented to the House of Commons

Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations

on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the

testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those

recommendations.

iii

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND

NATIONAL SECURITY

CHAIR

Hon. John McKay

VICE-CHAIRS

Shannon Stubbs

Kristina Michaud

MEMBERS

Pam Damoff

Darren Fisher

Jack Harris

Kamal Khera

Damien C. Kurek

Emmanuella Lambropoulos

Joël Lightbound

Glen Motz

Tako Van Popta

OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED

Gary Anandasangaree

Marc Dalton

Angelo Iacono

Annie Koutrakis

Robert Oliphant

Jeremy Patzer

Gagan Sikand

Denis Trudel

CLERKS OF THE COMMITTEE

Mark D’Amore

Jean-Marie David

LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT

Parliamentary Information, Education and Research Services

Cynthia Kirkby, Analyst

Graeme McConnell, Analyst

Holly Porteous, Analyst

Robin Whitehead, Analyst

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY AND

NATIONAL SECURITY

PARLIAMENT—1

SESSION

CHAIR

Hon. John McKay

VICE-CHAIRS

Pierre Paul-Hus

Kristina Michaud

MEMBERS

Marc Dalton

Pam Damoff

Jack Harris

Angelo Iacono

Kamal Khera

Joël Lightbound

Rob Morrisson

Doug Shipley

Gagan Sikand

OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED

Gary Anandasangaree

Charlie Angus

Luc Berthold

Raquel Dancho

Greg Fergus

Hon. Tim Uppal

Gary Vidal

Karen Vecchio

CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE

Jean-Marie David

LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT

Parliamentary Information, Education and Research Services

Cynthia Kirkby, Analyst

Holly Porteous, Analyst

Robin Whitehead, Analyst

vii

THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON

PUBLIC SAFETY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

has the honour to present its

SIXTH REPORT

Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the committee has studied Systemic Racism

in Policing in Canada and has agreed to report the following:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 1

LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 3

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING IN CANADA .......................................................................... 15

1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 15

1.1 Mandate of the Committee ....................................................................................... 15

1.2 Context ............................................................................................................................. 16

1.3 Defining and Understanding Systemic Racism ................................................ 17

2. Issues and Recommendations .......................................................................................... 19

2.1 Accountability, Oversight and Transparency of

the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ..................................................................... 19

2.1.1 Reforming Civilian Oversight for the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police ................................................................................................. 20

2.1.2 Discipline and Internal Accountability Within the Royal

Canadian Mounted Police ............................................................................. 23

2.2 Structure and Governance of the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police and Other Police Services............................................................................ 27

2.2.1 Structural and Cultural Modernization of Canadian

Police Services ................................................................................................... 27

2.2.2 Structure and Governance of the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police: Civilianization and Professionalization ................. 29

2.2.3 Supporting the Professionalization and Specialization of

Indigenous Police Services ........................................................................... 31

2.3 Provision of Policing Services to Indigenous Communities and

the First Nations Policing Program ...................................................................... 34

2.3.1 Colonialism and Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Systemic

Racism in Policing ............................................................................................ 34

2.3.2 Indigenous Policing and the First Nations Policing Program ......... 39

2.3.3 Policing Services for Urban Indigenous Populations ......................... 41

2.4 The Impact of Systemic Racism in Policing on Indigenous

Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+ People .................................................................. 44

2.4.1 The Impact of Police Violence, Racial Profiling and

Other Misconduct on Indigenous Women .............................................. 45

2.4.2 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls

and LGBTQ2S+ People ................................................................................... 46

2.4.3 Systemic Racism in Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based

Violence................................................................................................................ 47

2.5 Mental Health, Social Services and Crisis Response ...................................... 50

2.5.1 The Increasing Interactions Between Police and

Persons in Crisis ............................................................................................... 50

2.5.2 Community Services and Community Responses to Crisis .............. 51

2.5.3 Police and Mental Health System Partnerships ................................... 52

2.6 Racial Profiling, “Carding,” “Street Checks” and the

Criminalization of Indigenous and Racialized People ................................... 54

2.6.1 Over-representation of Indigenous and Racialized

People Within the Canadian Criminal Justice

System and Over-policing ............................................................................. 55

2.6.2 Carding, Street Checks, Racial Profiling, and

Discrimination in Police Discretion .......................................................... 56

2.6.3 Restorative Justice and Other Measures to Address

the Criminalization of Indigenous and Racialized People ................ 58

2.7 Police Use of Force Against Indigenous and Racialized People ................. 60

2.7.1 Police Use of Force ........................................................................................... 60

2.7.2 De-Escalation ..................................................................................................... 62

2.8 Cultural Awareness, Anti-Racism, Implicit Bias and

Diversity Training ....................................................................................................... 64

2.9 Racial, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and

Representativeness of Canadian Police Services ............................................ 66

2.10 Race-Based Data Collection and Dissemination .............................................. 69

2.11 The “Bastarache Report” .......................................................................................... 72

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 75

APPENDIX A LIST OF WITNESSES ................................................................................................ 77

APPENDIX B LIST OF WITNESSES ................................................................................................ 79

APPENDIX C LIST OF BRIEFS .......................................................................................................... 83

APPENDIX D LIST OF BRIEFS.......................................................................................................... 85

REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ................................................................................ 87

SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ................ 89

SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS ..................................................... 95

SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA ......... 99

SUMMARY

Given the pervasive nature of systemic racism in policing in Canada, the House of

Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (the Committee)

has concluded that a transformative national effort is required to ensure that all

Indigenous, Black and other racialized people in Canada are not subject to the

discrimination and injustice that is inherent in the system as it exists today. The

Committee held 19 meetings and heard from 53 witnesses, including those representing

community organizations providing services to, or advocating on behalf of, racialized

communities and Indigenous peoples; academics studying law, policing, and racism; and

members and leaders of Canadian police services and police organizations. From among

the diverse witnesses heard there was resounding acknowledgement of the reality of

systemic racism in policing in Canada and an expressed interest in finding solutions to

the urgent problems contributing to systemic racism to pave a new way forward.

The Committee heard testimony and received briefs detailing several aspects of

systemic racism in policing. Witnesses described that Indigenous police services that

can contribute to the self-determination and empowerment of their communities lack

resources and support. Witnesses pointed to the over-representation of Indigenous and

racialized people within the criminal justice system and described over-policing,

practices of racial profiling and discriminatory use of force against these populations.

The Committee heard that Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S+ people are

particularly impacted by systemic discrimination in policing, experiencing both over-

policing and under-policing (i.e. a lack of police assistance) when they are the victims of

criminal acts. Evidence was heard about the intersection between race and mental

health and the need to provide culturally appropriate and evidence-based crisis

intervention programs to meet the needs of persons in crisis.

The Committee was told that accountability, oversight and transparency are critical to

restore trust with Indigenous and racialized communities subject to systemic racism.

Witnesses also emphasized the need for the collection of disaggregated race-based data

to provide Canadians with an accurate picture of the impact of police practices and

policies on Indigenous and racialized people. Changes to the structure and governance

of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s national police service, were

recommended by witnesses to promote modernization, professionalization and

civilianization. The Committee heard concerns about the lack of diversity and

representativeness of some Canadian police services and what the Hon. Justice

Michel Bastarache described as a “toxic”

culture within the RCMP.

To address the urgent problems identified by witnesses the Committee has provided

42 recommendations aimed at fundamentally reforming Canadian policing to ensure

that all Canadians can access police services free from racism and other forms

of discrimination.

House of Commons, Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, Evidence, 2

Session,

Parliament, Meeting 10, 2 December 2020, 1610 (Hon. Michel Bastarache, Legal Counsel, As

an Individual).

LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they

include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government.

Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada clarify and strengthen the mandate,

independence and efficacy of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission

for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (CRCC) by:

• substantially increasing its annual funding to ensure sufficient resources

for both complaint reviews and systemic reviews;

• amending the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to:

• empower the CRCC to, when conducting investigations of the Royal

Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) that raise a reasonable belief that

the matter involves criminal conduct, refer cases to the appropriate

body responsible for criminal investigations of police conduct or

recommend to the relevant authorities that criminal charges be laid;

• create statutory timelines for responses by the RCMP Commissioner

to CRCC reports, codifying the schedule established in Appendix A of

the Memorandum of Understanding between the CRCC and

the RCMP;

• require the Commissioner of the RCMP to report annually to the

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness describing

steps taken to implement CRCC recommendations and require this

report to be tabled in Parliament; and

• require the CRCC to publish its findings and recommendations or a

summary thereof in respect of all complaints in a manner that

protects the identity of the complainant. ................................................. 25

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada increase the accessibility and transparency of

the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police review process by:

• reforming the process for initiating a complaint with the CRCC to make

it easier to navigate;

• ensuring the independent review process is explained in a detailed and

accessible format, including information about when the CRCC has

completed its interim report and when the RCMP’s review of the report

began and was completed;

• making sure the progression of a review and the reports involved in it

are transparent and publicly available with few exceptions; and

• publicly specifying the conditions for all exceptions to public

accessibility and transparency. ...................................................................... 26

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada ensure the Civilian Review and Complaints

Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police review process allows for

meaningful and engaged Indigenous participation and holds the RCMP

accountable for wrongful, negligent, reckless, or discriminatory behaviour

towards Indigenous people by requiring the CRCC to:

• consult with local Indigenous groups where complaints or systemic

reviews involve Indigenous complainants;

• include Indigenous investigators and decision makers in the CRCC; and

• ensure Indigenous investigators are involved where the complaint

involves Indigenous people. .......................................................................... 26

Recommendation 4

That the Government of Canada appoint Indigenous, Black and other racialized

people, and residents of Northern communities to the Civilian Review and

Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and to

investigations and leadership positions within that organization. ............................. 26

Recommendation 5

That the Government of Canada mandate that the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police implement effective ongoing training and disciplinary policies for RCMP

officers in order to prevent excess use of force, systemic racism and racial

profiling, and require the RCMP to publish and publicly disclose all

disciplinary decisions. ............................................................................................... 27

Recommendation 6

That the Government of Canada in collaboration with the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police introduce requirements for management at all levels to report

and act on internal harassment complaints, with clear and appropriate

consequences for failing to do so, and to provide appropriate supports,

including mental health supports, for officers who come forward with

a complaint. ............................................................................................................. 27

Recommendation 7

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide to Parliament, annually for

three years, a report on the progress of the implementation of the

recommendations in this report. .............................................................................. 27

Recommendation 8

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police be transitioned away from a para-

military force into a police service model with civilian oversight through a new

national oversight board with a legislated mandate to make this transition and

the changes required to ensure that policies, practices, procedures, and

operations are free from systemic bias and discrimination and that individual

acts of discrimination and racism are not tolerated. ................................................. 33

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada, in consultation with Indigenous, Black, and

other racialized people, create a National Police College to provide

preparation, training and education necessary for modern, professional and

bias-free policing, including:

• course offerings for continuing education, professionalization

and specialization;

• the provision of high quality cultural diversity training for Royal

Canadian Mounted Police recruits and other interested police services

members; and

• mandatory crisis resolution and psychology courses.

Recommendation 10

That the Government of Canada explore the possibility of ending contract

policing within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that the Government

work with the provinces, territories and municipalities to help those interested

establish their own provincial and territorial police services. .................................... 33

Recommendation 11

That the Government of Canada provide funding to all Indigenous communities

who are interested in Community Safety Officer programs based upon the

Kwanlin Dün First Nation model. .............................................................................. 33

Recommendation 12

That the Government of Canada work with Indigenous peoples to prioritize

action on all recommendations by commissions and inquires regarding

systemic racism against Indigenous peoples in policing and the justice system

with the aim of implementing the unfulfilled recommendations, with attention

to the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Calls

to Action and Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National

Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that relate

to policing. ............................................................................................................... 43

Recommendation 13

That the Government of Canada, through consultation and partnership with

First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, and recognizing that decisions

surrounding policing must be community driven, develop an Indigenous Police

Services Framework designed to promote self-determination and self-

governance over policing to Indigenous communities; this framework

should include:

• the designation of Indigenous police services as essential services and a

requirement that they are adequately resourced;

• provision for the co-development, in consultation and cooperation with

Indigenous peoples, of a model of civilian oversight for Indigenous

police services, with the authority to audit such services and investigate

claims of police misconduct; and

• a commitment for the provision of sufficient funding and support to

enable all interested Indigenous communities to develop Indigenous

police services. .............................................................................................. 43

Recommendation 14

That the Government of Canada in collaboration with First Nations, Métis and

Inuit communities and through negotiation, and in consultation with

Indigenous leaders and organizations, offer to create specialized training

rooted in Indigenous cultural knowledge and history. ............................................... 44

Recommendation 15

That with the financial support of the Government of Canada, Indigenous

policing models be developed in urban communities with significant

Indigenous populations, in consultation and cooperation with local Indigenous

people and local police authorities, to cooperate in policing, with:

• advisory bodies resourced and financed appropriately;

• Indigenous policing units within the urban police services;

• special patrols with Indigenous officers or community support;

• or such other models or arrangements that are appropriate to the local

circumstances as may be agreed upon. .......................................................... 44

Recommendation 16

That the Government of Canada provide necessary resources and work with

Inuit stake-holders on an Inuit led consultation within Inuit communities on

the most appropriate and effective model of policing of Inuit communities,

should they desire to undertake such consultations. ................................................. 44

Recommendation 17

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ensure that in all jurisdictions where

they are the police service responsible for First Nations, Métis and Inuit

communities, that a family liaison officer, and wherever reasonably possible,

one female officer is available to address gender-based violence. ............................. 49

Recommendation 18

That the Government of Canada encourage the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

to develop an action plan with concrete measures to address systemic racism

and violence against Indigenous women using an intersectional approach,

taking into account the different types of discrimination Indigenous women

face and how these types of discrimination intersect. ............................................... 49

Recommendation 19

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police establish programs and review and

revise policies to encourage officers who are stationed in First Nations, Métis,

Inuit and Northern communities to accept longer postings in order to better

establish ties with the communities they are serving. ............................................... 49

Recommendation 20

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories,

municipalities and Indigenous communities to ensure adequate funding and

service responsibilities related to mental health response and victim services. ......... 53

Recommendation 21

That the Government of Canada work with the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police, and provincial and municipal police services to encourage the use of

persons specialized in victim services and mental health who would be

available with first responders in situations requiring de-escalation. ........................ 54

Recommendation 22

That the Government of Canada properly resource the Civilian Review and

Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to conduct an

independent review of RCMP operational policies and practices such as

“wellness checks” and develop a timeline for corrective action to end police

violence and ensure the safety and security of those in need of mental

health support. ........................................................................................................ 54

Recommendation 23

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories to

create an Indigenous-led working group to better examine the service needs

related to mental health and victim services of the rapidly growing urban

Indigenous population and ensure that mental health responses, victim

services and community safety and policing programs serving Indigenous

people living in urban areas are adequately resourced.............................................. 54

Recommendation 24

That the Government of Canada decriminalize the simple possession of all illicit

drugs as called upon by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and public

health officials. ......................................................................................................... 59

Recommendation 25

That the Government of Canada offer pardons for all individuals convicted of

simple possession of illicit drugs. .............................................................................. 59

Recommendation 26

That the Government of Canada adopt a national policy that prohibits racial

profiling and other forms of selective identification and recording of the

presence of members of the public other than for investigative purposes and

denounces such practices as discriminatory and contrary to the Canadian

Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ............................................................................... 59

Recommendation 27

That the Government of Canada provide increased funding to ensure that

restorative justice programs are effective and available to Indigenous, Black

and other racialized people throughout the country. ................................................ 60

Recommendation 28

That the Government of Canada amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act, to

ensure a police officer’s discretion to choose alternative measures to the court

system when apprehending a youth who has committed a crime is applied

equitably, so that alternative sanctions are fairly offered to everyone; that

specific procedures or guidelines be put in place to determine what crimes

would permit alternative sanction so that equal access is given to this privilege. ...... 60

Recommendation 29

That the Government of Canada develop a national strategy to address and

correct the disproportionately high rates of Indigenous and Black people in the

criminal justice system and ensure anti-discriminatory and culturally specific

services for Indigenous and Black people. ................................................................. 60

Recommendation 30

That the Government of Canada work in consultation with civilians, Indigenous

peoples, and Black and other racialized Canadians, to review the federal use of

force framework to ensure that it:

• defines permissible use of force in greater detail;

• provides requirements for the operational use of de-escalation tactics;

• prioritizes de-escalation in use of force philosophy, tactics and training;

• respects as a guiding principle that officers use the least force necessary

in the circumstances; and

• requires adequate ongoing training of officers. .............................................. 63

Recommendation 31

That the Government of Canada request that the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police create a nationwide database of police use of force incident data

disaggregated by race, colour, ethnic background, national origin, gender and

other identities; regularly collect this data by implementing a mandatory

reporting policy, and regularly publicize the data collected. ...................................... 63

Recommendation 32

That the Government of Canada work with provinces, territories, police

services and chiefs of police across the country to develop a similar national

database including all Canadian police services. ........................................................ 63

Recommendation 33

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police enforce its zero-tolerance policy for

excessive use of force and that there be serious consequences for excessive use

of force regardless of whether the threshold is met to lay criminal charges

against the officer involved. ..................................................................................... 63

Recommendation 34

That the Government of Canada ensure that the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police work in collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities to

establish advisory committees composed of elders, community leaders and

cultural facilitators to ensure police practises and procedures address

community needs. .................................................................................................... 66

Recommendation 35

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police improve training to ensure that it

includes enhanced de-escalation, implicit bias, gender-based violence, cultural

awareness, and the history of colonialism and slavery in Canada. ............................. 66

Recommendation 36

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mandate that officers receive specific

cultural competency training developed in collaboration with the racialized,

First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities they intend to serve. ............................. 66

Recommendation 37

That the Government of Canada in collaboration with First Nations, Métis and

Inuit communities prioritize the recruitment of Indigenous people and women

into Indigenous police services. ................................................................................ 68

Recommendation 38

That the Government of Canada encourage the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

to ensure diversity in hiring for all levels within the police service so that it

better reflects the communities that it serves, specifically with a goal of hiring

more Indigenous and racialized people, and women. ................................................ 69

Recommendation 39

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police be encouraged to review their

screening process for new recruits to ensure that those with biases against

Indigenous and racialized people and women be rejected. ....................................... 69

Recommendation 40

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police be encouraged to take into

consideration Inuit language skills and community knowledge when evaluating

candidates and making decisions surrounding deployment of officers. ..................... 69

Recommendation 41

That the Government of Canada ensure that a critical race analysis is applied to

all racially disaggregated police data collected to ensure that the manner in

which it is used does not further stigmatize or marginalize Indigenous and

racialized people. ..................................................................................................... 72

Recommendation 42

That the Government of Canada request that the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police collect and publicize national comprehensive and disaggregated race-

based data covering police interactions with the public. ........................................... 72

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Mandate of the Committee

On June 23, 2020, during the 1

session of the 43

Parliament, the House of Commons

Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (the Committee) adopted

the following motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of systemic

racism in policing in Canada; and that the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency

Preparedness as well as the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[RCMP] be invited to testify on Tuesday, 23 June 2020.

During the 1

session of the 43

Parliament the Committee held six meetings before the

prorogation of Parliament on August 18, 2020. Following the opening of the 2

session

of the 43

Parliament on October 8, 2020, the Committee adopted the following

motion:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of systemic

racism in policing services in Canada, in particular the RCMP, and that the evidence and

documentation received by the committee during the First Session of the

Parliament on the subject be taken into consideration by the committee in the

current session, that the Committee report its findings to the House and, that pursuant

to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response to the report.

On December 2, 2020, the Hon. Michel Bastarache appeared before the Committee to

answer questions about Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual

Harassment on Women in the RCMP,

the final report on the implementation of the

Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement, which he authored. On December 7, 2020, the

Committee adopted the following motion:

House of Commons, Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security (SECU), Minutes of

Proceedings, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, 23 June 2020.

SECU, Minutes of Proceedings, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, 8 October 2020.

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020.

That the relevant sections of the Final Report on the Implementation of the

Merlo Davidson Settlement Agreement and the testimony of the Honourable

Michel Bastarache from December 2, 2020, be taken into consideration for the

Committee’s report on systemic racism in policing in Canada.

Over the course of two sessions of Parliament from June 2020 to May 2021, the

Committee held 19 meetings on this study, heard testimony from 53 witnesses, and

received 21 briefs. The Committee appreciates the participation and expertise of the

witnesses who provided testimony and briefs on this important issue.

The Committee recognizes that the elimination of systemic racism and discrimination

against Indigenous peoples by police and the justice system should be considered a key

and fundamental pre-condition of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and is in

keeping with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Committee hopes that through the adoption of the recommendations contained

in this report and other measures, as may be necessary to achieve these goals, systemic

racism in policing and our justice system will be eliminated and that individual

manifestations of racism and racist behaviour will be treated with severe measures.

This report represents the Committee’s examination of systemic racism in policing in

Canada. It is divided into three sections:

1) introduction and overview of the context of this study;

2) issues pertaining to systemic racism in policing in Canada raised by

witnesses and corresponding recommendations;

3) conclusion.

1.2 Context

Police services occupy a powerful role in Canadian society as those entrusted with

enforcing the law, protecting the community and keeping the peace. Police officers

provide increasingly diverse services in Canada, acting as law enforcers, first responders

to crises and crime prevention partners within the communities they serve. Concerns

about systemic racism within the institution of policing in Canada and calls to address

this problem have been raised in Canadian communities and within police services

themselves. The Committee heard evidence highlighting a wide variety of issues

SECU, Minutes of Proceedings, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, 7 December 2020.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

pertaining to systemic racism in Canadian policing, as well as suggestions for how these

challenges can be addressed and overcome.

1.3 Defining and Understanding Systemic Racism

Systemic racism is both a social and legal concept connoting a particular type of racism

which occurs within social systems and is reproduced by them. Witness Alain Babineau,

a law enforcement consultant, social justice advocate and former member of the RCMP,

provided the Committee with a helpful explanation of systemic racism, quoting Senator

Murray Sinclair:

Systemic racism is when the system itself is based upon and founded upon racist beliefs

and philosophies and thinking and has put in place policies and practices that literally

force even the non-racists to act in a racist way.

Indeed, the Committee heard testimony confirming that while many police officers

honourably, diligently, and professionally serve their communities, systemic racism

nevertheless pervades policing in Canada. Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Assistant Professor in

the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto, suggested that structural

racism and institutional racism are aspects of systemic racism. He explained that

structural racism “describes a system in which policies, institutional practices, cultural

representations and other norms work in varied and often reinforcing ways to

perpetuate racial inequality.”

This form of racism, in other words, is culturally

embedded and reproduced in social, economic and political systems.

In contrast,

Professor Owusu-Bempah described institutional racism as “institutional policies and

practices that, intentionally or not, produce outcomes that constantly favour or

disadvantage certain groups over others.”

Witnesses also pointed to the reality that systemic racism is not confined to the

institution of policing but is found in many aspects of Canadian society. Chief Ghislain

Picard, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Québec-Labrador, expressed that systemic

racism impacts the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian legal

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 7 December 2020, 1530 (Alain Babineau,

Consultant, Law Enforcement and Social Justice Advocate, As an Individual). Quoting Senator

Murray Sinclair, as quoted in Sierra Bein, “Morning Update: RCMP commissioner ‘struggles’ with definition

of systemic racism, but denies it exists on force,” Globe & Mail, 11 June 2020.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1520 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah,

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, As an Individual).

Ibid.

system, highlighting that systemic discrimination is an aspect of the experience of

colonialism,

a viewpoint emphasized by many witnesses who described the role of

police in enforcing the residential school system, child apprehensions during the Sixties

Scoop, the slaughter of Inuit sled dogs, and other instances of colonialism. As Vice-Chief

Terry Teegee, Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations explained

to the Committee, in Dakelh, the Carrier language, the RCMP are called “nilchuk-un”,

meaning “those who take us away.”

Myrna Lashley, Assistant Professor at McGill University’s Department of Psychiatry,

expressed that systemic racism has deep historical roots embedded in the history of

colonialism. She explained:

This type of racism and discrimination is based on the premise of white supremacy,

which is manifested in practices and policies that award unearned privileges to white

people based on their pigmentation, while automatically denying those same privileges

to Black people, Indigenous people and people of colour, commonly referred to

as BIPOC.

Some witnesses highlighted that systemic racism is a matter of constitutional and

human rights.

From a legal standpoint, when Canadian police services enforce the law

or provide services to the public, they are subject to constitutional and human rights

law. Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees “[e]very

individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection

and equal benefit of the law without discrimination”,

including discrimination on the

basis of race. Similarly, provincial human rights legislation and the Canadian Human

Rights Act prohibit race-based discrimination in the provision of services. Consequently,

when police services in Canada enforce the law and provide services to the public,

human rights law and the constitution require these services to be provided free of

discrimination on the basis of race.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief Ghislain Picard, Regional

Chief, Assembly of First Nations, Québec-Labrador).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1115 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee,

Regional Chief, British Columbia Assembly of First Nations).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1400 (Myrna Lashley, As

an Individual).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief Ghislain Picard).

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the

Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c. 11, s. 15.

Canadian Human Rights Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. H-6.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Understanding the impacts of systemic racism requires recognizing its differential

impacts on various groups of people and the way racism intersects with other forms

of discrimination. For example, several witnesses pointed to the unique impacts of

systemic racism on Indigenous women, which are not the same as those experienced

by Indigenous men, in part because Indigenous women also experience sexism.

Many witnesses pointed out that systemic racism is a problem that requires concerted

effort on the part of all Canadians to remedy. Fabrice Vil described systemic racism as a

“multifactorial crisis,” noting that “each and every one of us is responsible.”

Witnesses

also emphasized that police services must work with the communities they serve to

address and bring an end to systemic racism. Bryan Larkin, Chief of Police for the

Waterloo Regional Police Service affirmed that: “tackling racism requires a concerted

response from the entire community, including your police services.”

2. ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

2.1 Accountability, Oversight and Transparency of the Royal

Canadian Mounted Police

The importance of ensuring accountability, effective oversight and transparency of

Canadian police services when seeking to remedy issues associated with systemic racism

was a significant theme within the testimony heard by the Committee. It was expressed

that police services need to be accountable to all members of the communities

they serve.

The Committee heard testimony raising concerns about the resources, powers and

structure of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police (CRCC). Witness testimony pointed to a lack of internal accountability

within the RCMP for systemic racism, discrimination and related police misconduct, both

in relation to services provided to the public and as problems arising within the RCMP

workforce between members.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1405 (Fabrice Vil, As an Individual).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1215 (Chief Bryan Larkin, Chief of

Police, Waterloo Regional Police Service, and member of the Drug Advisory Committee, Canadian

Association of Chiefs of Police).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1520 (Ruth Goba, Executive Director,

Black Legal Action Centre).

2.1.1 Reforming Civilian Oversight for the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police

The CRCC is an independent civilian complaints oversight body created by Parliament,

which receives complaints from the public about the conduct of RCMP members and

provides oversight of RCMP investigations into these complaints. The CRCC is also

empowered to conduct systemic reviews and public interest investigations concerning

RCMP conduct. In her testimony before the Committee, Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson

of the CRCC, highlighted several ongoing challenges the CRCC faces when accomplishing

its mandate.

One of the challenges facing the CRCC highlighted in Chairperson Lahaie’s testimony and

brief to the Committee was the lack of legally enforceable timelines for response from

the RCMP Commissioner to CRCC reports. When the CRCC authors a report following a

review of a complaint or a hearing, an interim report is provided to the Commissioner of

the RCMP setting out the CRCC’s findings and recommendations. The Commissioner of

the RCMP is then legally required to provide the Chairperson of the CRCC and the

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness a written response indicating any

further actions that have been taken or will be taken concerning the complaint. If the

Commissioner decides not to act on any of the findings in the report they must explain

their reasons for doing so.

Chairperson Lahaie expressed serious concern with the lack

of mandated timelines for responses from the RCMP commissioner to CRCC reports. She

noted that responses to interim reports took on average 17 months, and that in one case

the commission has been waiting for over three years for a response.

She indicated

that while a memorandum of understanding has been entered into between the CRCC

and the Commissioner to address timelines, legally codifying these response time

requirements would assist in ensuring accountability.

A second concern raised by Chairperson Lahaie was the lack of accountability of the

RCMP when working to implement the recommendations of the CRCC. She suggested

that the Committee should consider creating an annual reporting requirement for the

RCMP Commissioner to explain the status of implementation of the CRCC’s

recommendations.

She contended that such a mechanism would increase the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. R-10, s. 45.76.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1110 (Michelaine Lahaie,

Chairperson, Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP).

Ibid., 1115.

Ibid.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

transparency of the RCMP’s response to the review process and provide a higher

standard of accountability.

Other witnesses noted that the CRCC appears to have insufficient power to effect

change. Lawyer Julian Falconer suggested that the CRCC can at present only provide

recommendations and has no power to sanction or require changes to be made within

the RCMP, so it cannot provide effective oversight.

Kent Roach, Professor at the

University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, noted that the CRCC is “underfunded and

underpowered,”

and that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, which governs the

CRCC and RCMP, “needs a fundamental rethink”

if the current system is to be

improved. Vice-Chief Terry Teegee, Regional Chief of the British Columbia Assembly of

First Nations, suggested that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act requires reform to

provide more power to the CRCC.

Allen Benson, Chief Executive Officer of Native

Counselling Services of Alberta, suggested creating clear consequences for police

misconduct, including acts of excessive use of force, racism, and abuses of power, and

suggested the CRCC needs the power to impose sanctions or consequences.

Another issue raised by several witnesses was a persistent lack of sufficient funding and

resources for the CRCC to fulfil the important functions it serves.

In a brief submitted

to the Committee by the CRCC, concerns were expressed that the number of citizen

complaints regarding RCMP conduct have been increasing over the past years, leading

to a requirement that more resources be devoted to the review of citizen complaints.

The CRCC is seriously underfunded and its lack of resources is a significant barrier

preventing it from engaging in reviews of systemic problems or conducting public

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1355 (Julian Falconer, As

an Individual).

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Kent Roach, Professor,

Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, As an Individual).

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1115 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1530 (Allen Benson, Chief Executive

Officer, Native Counselling Services of Alberta).

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1620 (Kent Roach); SECU,

Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1320 (Benson Cowan, Chief Executive

Officer, Legal Services Board of Nunavut); Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP,

Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada: Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public

Safety and National Security, 2020, p. 6–7.

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada:

Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security,

2020, p. 6.

interest investigations. The Committee heard that the CRCC must be adequately

resourced to allow it to undertake this important work.

The Committee also heard that the current CRCC complaints system is overly complex,

difficult to understand and navigate, and consequently inaccessible for those who might

otherwise file complaints.

These concerns were echoed by Chairperson Lahaie, herself,

who pointed out that the Commission interviewed members of many Indigenous

communities about the lack of use of the CRCC’s complaints system and learned that

many were unaware of the system or lacked trust in it. She noted that the process can

be “excessively bureaucratic and difficult to navigate.”

Indeed, concerns about lack of

trust in police complaints systems were also raised by Jocelyn Formsma, Executive

Director of the National Association of Friendship Centres, who noted these structures

are “largely inaccessible”

and explained that:

[P]eople who are experiencing, say, police violence or state-enforced violence are very

vulnerable people, and many times they have been very dehumanized. There are many

trust factors that affect whether they feel that the process they're engaging with will

have the result they desire.

Chairperson Lahaie explained that the CRCC has undertaken some steps to make the

CRCC’s process more accessible to the public, such as ensuring complaint forms are

translated into multiple languages, including Inuktitut,

simplifying the complaint sheet

and making staff members available to guide complainants through the process by

phone.

However, she acknowledged “the commission still needs to do more to ensure

greater accessibility, trust and transparency in the complaints process.”

She suggested

consultation with Indigenous and racialized communities to “identify and break down

systemic barriers”

as an important next step.

Ibid., p. 6.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Allen Benson).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1110 (Michelaine Lahaie).

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 18 November 2020, 1655 (Jocelyn Formsma,

Executive Director, National Association of Friendship Centres).

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1110 (Michelaine Lahaie).

Ibid., 1200.

Ibid., 1110.

Ibid.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

The Committee heard that independent complaints review and oversight bodies must

themselves be diverse and representative of the communities they serve. Witnesses

expressed that it is crucial that oversight and complaint structures include members

of Indigenous and racialized communities as decision-makers and complaints

investigators.

It was suggested that members of Indigenous communities and Northern

communities should be appointed to the CRCC.

The Committee heard that, at present,

the CRCC has an internal diversity and equity committee and a fairly diverse workforce,

but lacks sufficient Indigenous representation.

Chairperson Lahaie suggested the CRCC

could be improved by appointing Indigenous and racialized members.

2.1.2 Discipline and Internal Accountability Within the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police

The Committee heard from several witnesses that internal accountability and discipline

within the RCMP and other police services is important to maintain public trust in

policing. Accountability is necessary both in terms of how members of the RCMP provide

services to the public, but also how they interact with fellow officers.

With respect to service provision to the public, members of the RCMP have legally

binding responsibilities as members of the police service and must abide by a code of

conduct.

When RCMP members engage in misconduct they may be subject to

disciplinary processes as internal accountability mechanisms within the police service.

Viviane Michel, President of Québec Native Women Inc., suggested that accountability

through disciplinary measures could be effective in preventing some forms of systemic

racism and misconduct such as police brutality and racial profiling.

However,

concerns were raised about the transparency of the disciplinary process for the RCMP.

Christian Leuprecht, Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada’s Department of

Political Science, suggested that the RCMP should be required to make public all

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525-1530 (Allen Benson).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1320 (Benson Cowan).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1130 (Michelaine Lahaie).

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada:

Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, 2020,

p. 6.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. R-10, ss. 37, 38.; Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Regulations, 2014, SOR/2014-281, Schedule.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1455 (Viviane Michel, President,

Québec Native Women Inc.).

disciplinary decisions.

As Kanika Samuels-Wortley, Assistant Professor at Carleton

University pointed out, transparency of disciplinary processes for police officers who

engage in misconduct is required to assure members of the community that concerns

raised about police conduct are being addressed.

The Committee heard some testimony about the adoption of body worn cameras as a

tool to improve police accountability. Some witnesses supported the adoption of this

technology to provide transparency in police interactions with the public. For example,

Vice-Chief Teegee recommended increasing the use of body worn cameras in First

Nations communities, along with access to the video records.

The testimony of

Professor Kanika Samuels-Wortley, Robyn Maynard and Fabrice Vil included concerns

that outcomes from research on their use is mixed at best with some studies supporting

their use and others against it.

With respect to accountability for systemic racism and discrimination among RCMP

officers, many witnesses provided testimony suggesting there is a lack of internal

accountability. In a written submission to the Committee, Professor Leuprecht explained

that there has been a lack of accountability within management. He noted that the

Commissioner of the RCMP has the option of whether or not to seek the advice of the

civilian Management Advisory Board for the RCMP, which is intended to provide expert

advice on the management and administration of the RCMP, and that where advice is

sought the Commissioner may or may not act on it.

He expressed that there is “no

transparency“

in this process. Furthermore, he expressed that there needs to be

accountability for middle management in the RCMP who are made aware of claims of

harassment and discrimination and fail to act to hold those who report to

them accountable.

Christian Leuprecht, Submission Re: SECU hearings on Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, 24 July 2020.

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1750 (Kanika Samuels-Wortley,

Assistant Professor, Carleton University, As an Individual).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1115 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 November 2020, 1755 (Robyn Maynard, Author,

As an Individual); SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1735

(Kanika Samuels-Wortley); SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1435

(Fabrice Vil).

Christian Leuprecht, Submission Re: SECU hearings on Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, 24 July 2020.

Ibid.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Alain Babineau suggested that internal mechanisms within the RCMP to address

systemic discrimination and systemic racism have been “wholly inefficient,”

including

both harassment complaints and grievance processes. Alain Babineau and the Hon.

Michel Bastarache suggested that the RCMP does not appear to be capable of

addressing systemic discrimination within the organization itself,

suggesting change

must be imposed and overseen externally.

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada clarify and strengthen the mandate, independence and

efficacy of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police (CRCC) by:

• substantially increasing its annual funding to ensure sufficient resources

for both complaint reviews and systemic reviews;

• amending the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to:

empower the CRCC to, when conducting investigations of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

(RCMP) that raise a reasonable belief that the matter involves criminal conduct, refer cases to

the appropriate body responsible for criminal investigations of police conduct or recommend

to the relevant authorities that criminal charges be laid;

create statutory timelines for responses by the RCMP Commissioner to CRCC reports,

codifying the schedule established in Appendix A of the Memorandum of Understanding

between the CRCC and the RCMP;

require the Commissioner of the RCMP to report annually to the Minister of Public Safety and

Emergency Preparedness describing steps taken to implement CRCC recommendations and

require this report to be tabled in Parliament; and

require the CRCC to publish its findings and recommendations or a summary thereof in

respect of all complaints in a manner that protects the identity of the complainant.

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 7 December 2020, 1545 (Alain Babineau).

Ibid., 1630; Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual

Harassment on Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020, p. viii.

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada increase the accessibility and transparency of the

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

review process by:

• reforming the process for initiating a complaint with the CRCC to make

it easier to navigate;

• ensuring the independent review process is explained in a detailed and

accessible format, including information about when the CRCC has

completed its interim report and when the RCMP’s review of the report

began and was completed;

• making sure the progression of a review and the reports involved in it

are transparent and publicly available with few exceptions; and

• publicly specifying the conditions for all exceptions to public

accessibility and transparency.

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada ensure the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission

for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police review process allows for meaningful and

engaged Indigenous participation and holds the RCMP accountable for wrongful,

negligent, reckless, or discriminatory behaviour towards Indigenous people by requiring

the CRCC to:

• consult with local Indigenous groups where complaints or systemic

reviews involve Indigenous complainants;

• include Indigenous investigators and decision makers in the CRCC; and

• ensure Indigenous investigators are involved where the complaint

involves Indigenous people.

Recommendation 4

That the Government of Canada appoint Indigenous, Black and other racialized people,

and residents of Northern communities to the Civilian Review and Complaints

Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and to investigations and

leadership positions within that organization.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Recommendation 5

That the Government of Canada mandate that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

implement effective ongoing training and disciplinary policies for RCMP officers in order

to prevent excess use of force, systemic racism and racial profiling, and require the RCMP

to publish and publicly disclose all disciplinary decisions.

Recommendation 6

That the Government of Canada in collaboration with the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police introduce requirements for management at all levels to report and act on internal

harassment complaints, with clear and appropriate consequences for failing to do so,

and to provide appropriate supports, including mental health supports, for officers who

come forward with a complaint.

Recommendation 7

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police provide to Parliament, annually for three years,

a report on the progress of the implementation of the recommendations in this report.

2.2 Structure and Governance of the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police and Other Police Services

2.2.1 Structural and Cultural Modernization of Canadian Police Services

When explaining how to address systemic racism in Canadian police services, several

witnesses suggested that examining the structure and governance of police services is

crucial. The Committee heard from police chief witnesses who described the structural

and systemic reforms they are working to implement within their police services. They

also described the principles animating their attempts to combat systemic racism

through internal reforms. For example, Chief Nishan Duraiappah of the Peel Regional

Police expressed:

I, along with a consortium of the willing, am making bold and meaningful changes.

We understand that the willingness to step out and implement changes to drive out

systemic racism, without fear of failure, is required and expected. Therefore, in Peel

Regional Police I have committed to a shift from traditional law enforcement to a

pro-public health model rooted in human rights.

I'm adopting and implementing the following principles under a systemic change

framework. I've initiated a systems review of all our directives and policies under a

diversity, equity and inclusion lens. I'm developing leadership, both formal and informal,

with police members, so they are ready to challenge racism in its various forms, critically

and courageously, wherever they come across it.

Additionally, Chief Dale McFee of the Edmonton Police Service, expressed that as police

services work to address systemic racism their operational or organizational structures

need to be considered from a new perspective and partnerships with community

members, service providers and academia are needed to ensure changes to policies and

procedures are evidence-based.

However, Chief Duraiappah acknowledged that not all police services are engaged in

reform efforts.

Witnesses including Kent Roach, Christian Leuprecht and

Julian Falconer informed the Committee that some police services in Canada, including

the RCMP, are paramilitary in nature

and civilian oversight may be necessary to effect

the needed reforms.

Indeed, Professor Leuprecht, expressed the opinion that:

[L]eadership alone cannot and will not fix the issue. We have over 40 years of

research in political sociology to show that bureaucracies reproduce themselves; in the

process, they also reproduce their institutional culture and problems.

2.2.2 Structure and Governance of the Royal Canadian Mounted

Police: Civilianization and Professionalization

The Committee heard that the RCMP has a senior management and leadership model

that has remained unchanged for decades.

Several witnesses suggested that the RCMP

needs to be reformed to include civilian leadership and influence.

For example,

Professor Leuprecht expressed that the RCMP senior leadership and management

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1210 (Chief Nishan Duraiappah,

Chief of Police, Peel Regional Police).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1235 (Chief Dale McFee, Chief of

Police, Edmonton Police Service).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1210 (Chief Nishan Duraiappah).

Ibid., 1210 (Julian Falconer); SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020,

1610 (Kent Roach); Christian Leuprecht, Submission Re: SECU hearings on Systemic Racism in Policing in

Canada, 24 July 2020, p. 2.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1210 (Julian Falconer).

Christian Leuprecht, Submission Re: SECU hearings on Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, 24 July 2020,

p. 2.

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1150 (Rick Parent, As an Individual);

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1400 (Julian Falconer).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

should be civilianized, leaving uniformed members to run police operations but not the

entire organization.

He pointed out that fields like policy, communications, human

resources, and finance are specialized areas in which uniformed police officers have no

comparative advantage beyond civilians,

and that civilianization has an added benefit

of improving diversity and representativeness of law enforcement organizations because

members of some racialized or Indigenous communities are reticent to join police

services as sworn members.

He also suggested that in restructuring the RCMP, it

should be given separate employer status from the government.

Additionally, many witnesses pointed to a need to transform the RCMP’s structure away

from a paramilitary model and towards a professional model. For example, Professor

Leuprecht suggested that the RCMP needs “a completely different training regime”

and

“a separate career and professional development framework and path for officers.”

Professor Roach advocated for an abandonment of the paramilitary model of policing

and a move towards “an educated, professional model.”

Specific concerns were raised

about the structure of RCMP training, wherein all recruits are required to go through

basic training at Depot Division, the RCMP’s training academy in Regina, Saskatchewan.

The Committee heard that Depot Division also provides training to members of other

police services, including basic training for some Indigenous police services, followed by

training in the community.

Professor Roach suggested that training at Depot Division

can make the RCMP less “flexible”

and specialized in the sense of being adaptable to

the wide variety of policing services performed in the diverse communities served.

Similarly, Professor Leuprecht expressed that:

Christian Leuprecht, Submission Re: SECU hearings on Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, 24 July 2020,

p. 5.

Ibid., p. 5.

Ibid., p. 6.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1105 (Christian Leuprecht, Professor,

Department of Political Science, Royal Military College of Canada, As an Individual).

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Kent Roach).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1550 (Chief Dwayne Zacharie,

President, First Nations Chiefs of Police Association).

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1640 (Kent Roach).

Ibid.

Depot […] socializes a certain type of command and control mindset. Starting with a

complete overhaul of the curriculum and the training regime at Depot would, I think,

also effect change.

The Hon. Michel Bastarache has described the training provided at Depot Division as

“para-military training”

and explained that claimants he interviewed for the Merlo-

Davidson class action lawsuit against the RCMP for sexual harassment and gender or

sexual orientation based workplace discrimination described sexual abuse, harassment,

and discrimination at Depot Division during basic training.

Claimants also suggested

the training provided at Depot Division was comparably worse than other police training

academies in Canada, because the program was structured to break a person down in

order to rebuild them, rather than to build them up to become the best police officer

they can be.

Suggestions were also put forward by witnesses to address the problems with the

current RCMP training structure. Notably, in a brief submitted to the Committee, the

Assembly of First Nations recommended reforming RCMP training away from “a

paramilitary force trained in isolation”

and towards the provision of training for RCMP

officers within the communities they will serve. Witnesses also suggested the creation of

a national policing college to ensure that the RCMP and other police services receive

specialized, professional and evidence-based training. For example, Senator

Vernon White, a former Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP, described the College of

Policing model employed in the United Kingdom, which is a professional body

the purpose of which is to “provide those working in policing with the skills and

knowledge necessary to prevent crime, protect the public and secure the public trust.”

He noted that the College of Policing is engaged in knowledge production through

research and acquiring evidence of what works, providing education to support

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1135 (Christian Leuprecht).

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020, p. iv.

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 2 December 2020, 1620 (Hon. Michel Bastarache,

Legal Counsel, As an Individual).

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020, p. 66.

Assembly of First Nations, Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security: Study on Systemic Racism in Police Services in Canada, 7 August 2020.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1610 (Hon. Vernon White,

Senator, CSG).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

professional development and setting standards for police services and members based

on the best available evidence.

In addition to civilianization and concerns with training, the Committee also heard

from witnesses who felt the RCMP does not appropriately respond to the needs of

the communities they serve through contract policing. For example, Professor Samuels-

Wortley explained that police services must be attuned to the needs of each community

because particular communities will have their own unique issues and concerns that

must be dealt with. Consequently, the RCMP may not have the capacity to police areas

where they are not familiar with community concerns.

Professor Roach suggested that

the RCMP should not rely on a top-down governance model when engaged in contract

policing, but suggested that local governance structures are necessary to provide local

control over policing services.

2.2.3 Supporting the Professionalization and Specialization of

Indigenous Police Services

The federal government, through its role in the First Nations Policing Program, plays a

part in ensuring Indigenous police services have the support and resources necessary

to operate. The Committee heard that Indigenous police services have unique policing

models tailored to the particular communities they are a part of and provide

services to.

However, Chief Dwayne Zacharie, President of the First Nations Chiefs of

Police Association, expressed to the Committee that he sometimes feels that Indigenous

police officers are “treated as second-class citizens in the policing realm”

because

there is a lack of training opportunities available to Indigenous police services, including

a lack of advanced training.

Additionally, the Committee heard that some Indigenous communities are developing

new and innovative policing structures to help bridge the gap between community

members and police services. For example, Chief Doris Bill of the Kwanlin Dün First

Nation, described the “Community Safety Officers” Program that her community has

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1725

(Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

Ibid., 1610 (Kent Roach).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1545 (Chief Dwayne Zacharie).

Ibid., 1550.

developed.

The Community Safety Officers Program is an innovative program designed

to strengthen relationships between the community and the RCMP who provide policing

services to them.

It involves Indigenous people and community members trained as

community safety officers who work to provide early detection, de-escalation and

culturally responsive services.

The program does not replace traditional police services,

but assists in conflict resolution, freeing up police officers to do other work. Chief Bill

explained that the community safety officers are known and trusted by the community:

They have roots and ties to these people. Our people know that they can go to

them and trust them. They work alongside the RCMP officers, and they act as a

liaison between the officers and the communities they serve.

She noted that the program has produced positive results, saving time and money, and

that “calls to services have been reduced significantly since the program started.”

It has

provided an alternative for the community to address issues on their own, without

always relying on the RCMP.

However, Chief Bill also noted that there have been funding challenges. The program is

funded by the federal government, Yukon government, and the First Nation’s own

resources, but because it is a community-based initiative rather than a law enforcement

organization it doesn’t neatly fit within particular funding programs.

In sum, the Committee heard evidence suggesting the structure and governance of the

RCMP should be modernized, civilianized and professionalized and evidence suggesting

additional support should be provided for the professionalization and specialization of

Indigenous police services.

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1415 (Chief Doris Bill, Chief,

Kwanlin Dün First Nation).

Ibid.

Ibid., 1420; Ibid., 1435.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1435 (Chief Doris Bill).

Ibid., 1420.

Ibid., 1435.

Ibid., 1500.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Recommendation 8

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police be transitioned away from a para-military force

into a police service model with civilian oversight through a new national oversight

board with a legislated mandate to make this transition and the changes required to

ensure that policies, practices, procedures, and operations are free from systemic bias

and discrimination and that individual acts of discrimination and racism are

not tolerated.

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada, in consultation with Indigenous, Black, and other

racialized people, create a National Police College to provide preparation, training and

education necessary for modern, professional and bias-free policing, including:

• course offerings for continuing education, professionalization

and specialization;

• the provision of high quality cultural diversity training for Royal

Canadian Mounted Police recruits and other interested police services

members; and

• mandatory crisis resolution and psychology courses.

Recommendation 10

That the Government of Canada explore the possibility of ending contract policing within

the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and that the Government work with the provinces,

territories and municipalities to help those interested establish their own provincial and

territorial police services.

Recommendation 11

That the Government of Canada provide funding to all Indigenous communities who are

interested in Community Safety Officer programs based upon the Kwanlin Dün First

Nation model.

2.3 Provision of Policing Services to Indigenous Communities and

the First Nations Policing Program

2.3.1 Colonialism and Indigenous Peoples’ Experiences of Systemic

Racism in Policing

The Committee heard evidence from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations,

Indigenous community leaders and First Nations police service providers who testified

about the role police services, including the RCMP, have played in Canada’s history of

colonialism and the traumatic impact this has had on Indigenous communities

and individuals.

Vice-Chief Teegee expressed:

For many years, since colonization began, the police force was used to take our

people off the land. More recently, with the advent of the residential school policies,

many of our children were taken from our homes and brought to residential schools.

In my language, Dakelh, the Carrier language, we call the RCMP nilhchuk-un, which,

interpreted in our language, is “those who take us away”. Really, it was the RCMP

who took our children away. In many respects, that's the way we still see the RCMP.

With respect to the experience of her community, Chief Bill of the Kwanlin Dün First

Nation expressed that citizens had made clear that “there remained a strong distrust of

police”

owing to the trauma police had caused through their participation in enforcing

child apprehensions during the Sixties Scoop, enforcing the residential schools program,

forcing the relocation of Indigenous peoples and the failures to adequately respond to

missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

As Chief Ghislain Picard of the

Assembly of First Nations, Québec-Labrador described, “it was the police who abducted

our children and forced them into residential schools. It was the police who prevented

our peoples from participating in their ceremonies and practising their spirituality.”

While the Committee heard descriptions of historical injustices perpetrated by police

agencies, witnesses also described current experiences of systemic racism against

Indigenous peoples. Chief Picard explained that studies have confirmed that First

Nations people are more likely to be detained by police following an arrest, often due to

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1115 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1415 (Chief Doris Bill).

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief Ghislain Picard).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

prejudice and racism, to be detained for longer periods of time and to be sentenced to

longer terms of imprisonment than other Canadians.

They are also more likely to be

imprisoned for non-payment of fines, and more likely to be killed in police operations.

The Committee heard from witnesses that the Inuit have had a unique and relatively

recent experience of being policed by the RCMP. As Gerri Sharpe, Vice-President of

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada explained, the RCMP only began policing the North

shortly before she was born.

As she described:

In just a few decades, we underwent a profound transformation in our lives and

livelihood, transformation that was organized by colonial forces outside of our control.

The RCMP played a key role in these operations. They relocated us from permanent

settlements to permanent settlements, transported Inuit children to residential

schools and slaughtered Inuit sled dogs.

Simply put, in Inuit Nunangat, policing is a structure built on systematic racism. This is

a culture with deeply held views resulting in failed responses to the violence that Inuit

women and girls experience.

Inuit communities have an inclusive culture, but policing has another, built on

colonialism.

The Committee heard that in Inuit Nunangat, the homeland of the Inuit, which extends

across the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik (within the province of Québec)

and Nunatsiavut (within Newfoundland and Labrador), the Inuit disproportionately

experience police violence as compared to other Canadians and are faced with

challenges accessing justice.

The RCMP polices all of Inuit Nunangat with the exception

of Nunavik, which is policed by the Kativik Regional Police Service. Natan Obed,

President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, explained that the police service is “largely

itinerant,”

lacking significant representation of Inuit, and without any “clear connection

to community.”

Aluki Kotierk, President of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. described “a

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1715 (Gerri Sharpe, Vice-

President, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada).

Ibid.

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1120 (Natan Obed, President, Inuit

Tapiriit Kanatami).

Ibid.

relationship of distrust between Nunavut Inuit and the RCMP”

100

that had evolved from

the historical role RCMP officers played in Nunavut to the present day. As she explained:

There is no doubt that the relationship between Nunavut Inuit and the RCMP is

complex and strained. The RCMP was instrumental in relocating Inuit families into

communities; the RCMP was instrumental in sending Inuit children to residential

schools; the RCMP was instrumental in the slaughter of Inuit sled dogs.

101

She noted that “[t]oday, many of the social and economic challenges experienced by

Inuit are rooted in the loss of power and control caused by much of the colonial

relationship.”

102

Furthermore, she expressed that “The RCMP does not understand our

culture, nor does it understand our language.”

103

Natan Obed explained there is no Inuit-

specific control over police services provided in their communities and the RCMP lacks a

relationship with the community, which results in problems of over-policing, under-

policing and excessive use of force.

104

Gerri Sharpe explained that police services in Inuit

Nunangat suffer from under-staffing, short postings and a lack of cultural competence

and familiarity with the local culture, language barriers, and insufficient resources and

wrap-around community services.

105

She pointed the Committee to recommendations in

the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada’s report, Addressing Gendered Violence against

Inuit Women: A review of police policies and practices in Inuit Nunangat, which

specifically recommends that the federal government “ensure that all regions of Inuit

Nunangat have effective and substantively equitable policing services.”

106

With respect to the experiences of Métis communities with law enforcement, the

Committee heard from Melanie Omeniho, President of the Women of the Métis

Nation – Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak, who explained that:

Canada has a long history of policies and practices that have institutionalized racism

toward Métis women, girls and gender-diverse people. While the current government is

100

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1125 (Aluki Kotierk, President,

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.).

101

Ibid.

102

Ibid., 1405.

103

Ibid., 1125.

104

Ibid., 1140 (Natan Obed).

105

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1715 (Gerri Sharpe).

106

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and Elizabeth Comack, Addressing Gendered Violence against Inuit

Women: A review of the police policies and practices in Inuit Nunangat, Ottawa: Pauktuutit Inuit Women of

Canada, 2020, p. 111.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

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working towards reconciliation, many discriminatory policies and practices still exist

today and have not been addressed yet.

107

She described that studies have shown many Métis grow up in households where they

witness or experience violence and substance abuse, and many have family members

involved with the criminal justice system.

108

Métis men and women are also targeted by

police practices like carding,

109

a form of racial profiling. She emphasized the need to

address the over-representation of Métis in crime and victimization by developing

policing that builds trust with Métis communities and is responsive to the distinct needs

and culture of the Métis.

110

The Committee’s attention was drawn by many witnesses to the existence of several

previous reports addressing, at least in part, ongoing problems with the provision of

policing services to Indigenous communities and individuals. Many of these reports

provide recommendations aimed at addressing systemic racism. With respect to the

relationship between First Nations peoples in Canada and law enforcement, Chief Picard

expressed:

Since 1967, at least 13 reports have examined this relationship. They have addressed all

facets of the situation. Countless research reports have examined the issue. In every

case, the conclusion is the same: Canada has failed.

111

Examples of such reports, include the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s reports,

112

and Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing

and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

113

Witnesses expressed dismay that many

of the recommendations contained in previous reports have not yet been actioned and

demanded these recommendations be acted upon.

While Indigenous experiences with colonial police services have been marked by

violence and distrust, witnesses reminded the Committee that prior to colonization

Indigenous communities had their own models of law and policing which ought to be

107

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Melanie Omeniho,

President, Women of the Métis Nation – Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak).

108

Ibid.

109

Ibid.

110

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1615 (Melanie Omeniho).

111

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief Ghislain Picard).

112

See: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls To Action, Truth and Reconciliation Commission

of Canada, 2015.

113

See: Calls for Justice, National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2019.

upheld.

114

Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director of Native Child and Family Services of

Toronto, explained that:

[E]ach First Nation, along with Métis and Inuit people, has very long traditions of justice

and public safety within their own cultures. For thousands of years before contact, they

had systems established to maintain community safety and wellness and address crime

in their communities. I think we have some good models there that are still alive and

well within the knowledge base of the Indigenous people and that can be brought into

the contemporary scenario to develop things.

115

Witnesses emphasized that First Nations groups must be provided with clear jurisdiction

over policing in their own communities.

116

Furthermore, as Natan Obed, President of

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami expressed, policing must be characterized by self-determination

with each community shaping its own path forward

117

He explained that Inuit Tapiriit

Kanatami could not take a position on whether Inuit police services should be formed to

serve Inuit communities as consultations had not yet been conducted by the Board.

118

He also highlighted the importance of Inuit participation in the review of policing

governance structures to ensure the views and perspectives of community members are

not sidelined when determining a path forward.

119

Additionally, the Committee heard

from Gerri Sharpe that the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada had not yet conducted

consultations within the Inuit community concerning whether the RCMP should

continue to police the regions of Inuit Nunangat to which it currently provides contract

policing services.

120

Vice-Chief Teegee asserted that the rights to sovereignty and self-determination

enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

121

are

applicable to policing.

122

114

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1110 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

115

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1605 (Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive

Director, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto).

116

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1115 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

117

Ibid., 1200 (Natan Obed).

118

Ibid., 1205.

119

Ibid., 1120 (Natan Obed).

120

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1745 (Gerri Sharpe).

121

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, resolution adopted by the General

Assembly, 2 October 2007, A/RES/61/295.

122

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1200 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

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2.3.2 Indigenous Policing and the First Nations Policing Program

The Committee heard that all Indigenous communities should have access to the

support necessary to develop their own police services that reflect and respond to their

communities’ particular culture and needs.

123

To this end, Vice-Chief Teegee called for

better cooperation between the provincial and federal governments to support

Indigenous policing.

124

The federal government plays a central role in providing the resources necessary for

Indigenous communities to establish their own police services through the First Nations

Policing Program. This program, which was established in the early 1990s, provides a

structure whereby First Nations and Inuit communities can enter into agreements for

various forms of police services responsive to the needs of their communities. The

program predominantly works through two types of agreements:

• self-administered Police Service Agreements: whereby a First

Nation or Inuit community manages its own police service,

regulated by provincial policing laws; and

• community Tripartite Agreements: whereby RCMP police officers

are contracted to provide policing services to a First Nations or

Inuit community.

125

Funding for the First Nations Policing Program is provided by the federal and provincial

governments on a program basis leading to funding uncertainty and instability for these

police services. For example, Terry McCaffrey, Chief of Police for the Wikwemikong Tribal

Police Service and President of the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, expressed that

Ontario’s self-administered First Nations police services are “chronically underfunded”

126

and First Nations officers are forced to work under conditions other officers would never

be subjected to.

127

Both Chief Picard and Chief McCaffrey advocated that Indigenous

police services need to be funded on parity with non-Indigenous services.

128

Julian Falconer expressed, with respect to the status of Indigenous police services:

123

Ibid., 1110; SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1550 (Chief Dwayne

Zacharie); SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1355 (Julian Falconer).

124

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1110 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

125

Public Safety Canada, Policing in Indigenous Communities.

126

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9 23 July 2020, 1410 (Chief Terry McCaffrey, Chief of

Police, Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service, and President, Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario).

127

Ibid.

128

Ibid.; SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1425 (Chief Ghislain Picard).

“Indigenous people are entitled to equity, and they are entitled to safety backed by the

rule of law.”

129

The Committee heard evidence about the results of insufficient funding and support for

Indigenous police services. Professor Roach highlighted in his testimony that the number

of autonomous Indigenous police services (i.e. police services with self-administered

police service agreements) in Canada has been declining over recent years, rather than

growing.

130

He expressed that “[s]uch police services need resources and the freedom to

work with others in the community, and hopefully to take over policing from the RCMP,

OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] and the Sûreté [Sûreté du Québec].”

131

Many witnesses articulated the need for Indigenous police services to be made

“essential services,”

132

and the need for an Indigenous policing framework to be

established, in order to ensure these services are provided stable long-term funding like

other Canadian police services. The Hon. Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and

Emergency Preparedness, testified before the Committee that one of his mandate

priorities is to “co-develop a legislative framework that recognizes First Nations policing

as an essential service.”

133

However, John Paul, Executive Director of the Atlantic Policy

Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat, cautioned the Committee that unless a

change to “essential service” status includes sufficient financial resources and the

“governance and inclusiveness”

134

required for success, it may fail to achieve results as

has occurred with previous policing strategies.

In addition to concerns about program status and funding, the Committee heard that

Indigenous Police Services have been set up to fail, in part by a lack civilian oversight

structures.

135

With respect to the provision of policing services for Indigenous

communities, the Committee heard that it is important to include Indigenous people in

129

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1335 (Julian Falconer).

130

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Kent Roach). See also:

Kimberly Murray et al., Towards Peace, Harmony, and Well-Being: Policing in Indigenous Communities,

Ottawa: Council of Canadian Academies, 2019, pp. 91–93.

131

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Kent Roach).

132

Ibid.; SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1410 (Chief Terry McCaffrey);

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1530 (Allen Benson); SECU, Evidence,

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1335 (Julian Falconer).

133

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1705 (Hon. Bill Blair, Minister of

Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness).

134

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 18 November 2020, 1625 (John Paul, Executive

Director, Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat).

135

Ibid.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

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the design of how policing is delivered.

136

This would include Indigenous police oversight

structures, as police oversight is intended to ensure accountability to the particular

community served.

Despite the considerable challenges Indigenous police services have faced, the

Committee heard that First Nations police services have managed to build relationships

of trust with the communities they serve and are a part of; relationships which are often

absent in other police services.

137

The Committee heard evidence of the successes of

Indigenous police services. For example, in a brief provided by Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler

on behalf of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, it was highlighted that in the 26-year history of

the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service there have not been any police shooting deaths.

138

Julian Falconer also suggested that the unique structure of Indigenous police services

could serve as a model or learning opportunity for “conventional” police services.

139

2.3.3 Policing Services for Urban Indigenous Populations

Providing culturally appropriate and culturally informed services for Indigenous people

living in urban centres was described by witnesses as a particular challenge because of

the inherent diversity within Canadian cities. Over half of Canada’s Indigenous

population, one quarter of the Inuit population and nearly two thirds of the Métis

population live in metropolitan areas.

140

Melanie Omeniho explained to the Committee that designing Indigenous policing

solutions for Métis communities poses an added challenge, because unlike some First

Nations communities that have developed their own police services, the Métis do not

live in one geographical location.

141

However, she explained that the Métis Nation and

its governments are looking towards developing their own justice processes and

relationship building is necessary between the police services and the Métis Nation to

improve the current system.

142

136

Ibid.

137

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1415 (Chief Terry McCaffrey).

138

See: Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, Submission of Nishnawbe Aski Nation to the

Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, 31 July 2020.

139

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1335 (Julian Falconer).

140

Statistics Canada, “Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Key results from the 2016 Census,” 25 October 2017.

141

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1640 (Melanie Omeniho).

142

Ibid.

Many witnesses expressed that training and funding is required to ensure urban police

services can develop appropriate services for urban Indigenous populations. Vice-Chief

Teegee highlighted the importance of ensuring police services operating in urban centres

have appropriate training from an Indigenous point of view about the lived experience

of colonization, in addition to mental health and addiction training, because many cases

of incarceration of Indigenous people and police-involved deaths occur in cities.

143

Additionally, Chris Sheppard, Board President of the National Association of Friendship

Centres, testified that his organization has conducted a literature review of reports and

recommendations concerning Indigenous justice. Three themes emerged from this

review of recommendations made in previous reports, including : 1) “training and

educating non-Indigenous people about Indigenous history, heritage, culture, identity,

rights, laws, and current realities”

144

; 2) “increased funding to Indigenous communities

as well as to public programs and organizations whose objective is to benefit Indigenous

peoples”

145

; and 3)” increasing participation of Elders within the justice system.”

146

expressed that:

Urban Indigenous people are continually caught in jurisdictional matters between

federal and provincial governments. Law enforcement is no different.

For the recommendations to be successfully interpreted and implemented, funding

must be provided to Indigenous people living in urban communities as well as in rural

or remote communities on an equitable basis. The funding cannot just be a one-time

payment or a short-term proposal response to what is a generational issue. Rather, it

must be sustainable, so that the programs and organizations concerned can be

maintained and serve the community in the long term.

147

Witnesses described some potential avenues for reform to ensure urban Indigenous

populations have access to culturally relevant and responsive services. For example,

Chief Zacharie suggested that urban police services could develop an integrated unit that

would work with Indigenous communities and could employ a similar model to those

found in Indigenous police services.

148

Michèle Audette, former Commissioner of the

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, pointed out

that some policing organizations face difficulty attracting Indigenous staff and expressed

143

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1205 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

144

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 18 November 2020, 1615 (Christopher Sheppard,

Board President, National Association of Friendship Centres).

145

Ibid.

146

Ibid.

147

Ibid.

148

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1555 (Chief Dwayne Zacharie).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

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that when transitioning to involve more Indigenous people within these organizations it

is important to ensure police organizations are ready and open to change.

149

She

suggested hiring those with expertise such as elders or other Indigenous staff, noting

some police services have seen success hiring Indigenous people to patrol, which can

build confidence and ensure successful interventions.

150

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 12

That the Government of Canada work with Indigenous peoples to prioritize action on all

recommendations by commissions and inquires regarding systemic racism against

Indigenous peoples in policing and the justice system with the aim of implementing the

unfulfilled recommendations, with attention to the recommendations from the Truth

and Reconciliation Commission: Calls to Action and Reclaiming Power and Place: The

Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and

Girls that relate to policing.

Recommendation 13

That the Government of Canada, through consultation and partnership with First

Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, and recognizing that decisions surrounding

policing must be community driven, develop an Indigenous Police Services Framework

designed to promote self-determination and self-governance over policing to Indigenous

communities; this framework should include:

• the designation of Indigenous police services as essential services and a

requirement that they are adequately resourced;

• provision for the co-development, in consultation and cooperation with

Indigenous peoples, of a model of civilian oversight for Indigenous

police services, with the authority to audit such services and investigate

claims of police misconduct; and

149

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 18 November 2020, 1735 (Michèle Audette, As

an Individual).

150

Ibid.

• a commitment for the provision of sufficient funding and support to

enable all interested Indigenous communities to develop Indigenous

police services.

Recommendation 14

That the Government of Canada in collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit

communities and through negotiation, and in consultation with Indigenous leaders and

organizations, offer to create specialized training rooted in Indigenous cultural

knowledge and history.

Recommendation 15

That with the financial support of the Government of Canada, Indigenous policing

models be developed in urban communities with significant Indigenous populations, in

consultation and cooperation with local Indigenous people and local police authorities,

to cooperate in policing, with:

• advisory bodies resourced and financed appropriately;

• Indigenous policing units within the urban police services;

• special patrols with Indigenous officers or community support;

• or such other models or arrangements that are appropriate to the local

circumstances as may be agreed upon.

Recommendation 16

That the Government of Canada provide necessary resources and work with Inuit stake-

holders on an Inuit led consultation within Inuit communities on the most appropriate

and effective model of policing of Inuit communities, should they desire to undertake

such consultations.

2.4 The Impact of Systemic Racism in Policing on Indigenous

Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+ People

In the course of its study, the Committee heard from many witnesses about the

particular impact systemic racism in policing has had on racialized and Indigenous

women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ people. For example, Viviane Michel, explained the

differential impact colonialism has had on Indigenous women:

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Although colonialism impacted both men and women, the effects were not the

same. Colonization was a gendered process that produced insidious stereotypes

about Indigenous women, objectifying them. This has resulted in Indigenous women

being doubly discriminated against; in addition to racism, they endure sexism.

151

The effect of systemic racism on Indigenous and racialized women and girls includes

both disproportionate exposure to police discrimination, such as racial profiling and

excessive use of force by police during encounters when compared with other women,

but also a failure of police agencies to protect these women from gender-based violence

and homicide, or to investigate and respond appropriately to their criminal victimization.

2.4.1 The Impact of Police Violence, Racial Profiling and Other

Misconduct on Indigenous Women

Witnesses shared with the Committee that Indigenous women have been subject to

racism in policing through police brutality and abuse of authority, including excessive use

of force and assault, sexual abuse, inappropriate behaviour, and failure to assist victims

or inaction in cases of sexual violence.

152

Additionally, Ms. Michel noted that there have

been reports of Indigenous women being subject to racial profiling, leading to abusive

and discriminatory arrests, and reports of Indigenous women being the victims of

“starlight tours” or “geographical cures.”

153

“Starlight tours” and “geographical cures”

are terms referring to an abusive, dangerous, and in some cases lethal practice of police

driving an Indigenous person to a remote area and leaving them there. In a brief

submitted to the Committee, Human Rights Watch described hearing from Indigenous

women in Saskatchewan of the fear “starlight tours” evoke, and the way that this fear

prevents Indigenous women from seeking help from police.

154

In a brief submitted to the Committee, Human Rights Watch described reports of police

abuse and violence against Indigenous women. For example, Human Rights Watch

reported 64 allegations of violence against Indigenous women by police in

Saskatchewan, including “excessive use of force, invasive body and strip searches by

male officers, and sexual harassment during these searches.”

155

In British Columbia, they

151

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1415 (Viviane Michel).

152

Ibid., 1415–1420; SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610

(Melanie Omeniho); SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief

Ghislain Picard).

153

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1415–1420 (Viviane Michel).

154

Human Rights Watch, Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security: Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, December 9 2020, p. 13.

155

Ibid., p. 5.

similarly reported “young girls pepper-sprayed and tasered; a 12 year old girl attacked by

a police dog; a 17 year-old punched repeatedly by an officer who had been called to help

her; and women strip-searched by male officers; and women injured due to excessive

force during arrest.”

156

To address systemic racism in policing experienced by Indigenous women Ms. Michel

recommended that:

There needs to be an action plan and concrete measures to address systemic racism

and violence as well as police impunity against Aboriginal women, using an

intersectional approach that takes into account all of the types of discrimination

faced by Aboriginal women and the fact that these types of discrimination reinforce

each other and that takes into account Aboriginal women in particular.

157

2.4.2 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+

People

The Committee heard testimony from several witnesses about the failed police

responses to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ people. For

example, Mitch Bourbonniere, explained that police responses to missing Indigenous

women and girls often result in blaming the victim for their lifestyle and that requests

for help are not responded to in the same way for Indigenous people, that they are for

non-Indigenous people in Winnipeg.

158

Viviane Michel explained to the Committee that:

The relationship of Aboriginal girls and women with police forces is central to the issue

of missing and murdered Aboriginal girls and women. Inadequate police behaviour and

responses must be taken into account in understanding this phenomenon. Families of

missing or murdered persons do not trust the police because of their indifference,

incompetence or misconduct towards them.

159

To address community concerns surrounding systemic racism as it relates to police

actions relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S+

people, witnesses emphasized the importance of taking action on the calls to justice

contained within the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered

156

Ibid.

157

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1420 (Viviane Michel).

158

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 November 2020, 1730 (Mitch Bourbonniere,

Community Activist, Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin).

159

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1420 (Viviane Michel).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Indigenous Women and Girls.

160

Professor Myrna Lashley expressed that Indigenous

women should be empowered to oversee and be a part of the solutions themselves

161

and Lorraine Whitman, President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada,

expressed that Indigenous women must be at the table when determining how to

address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and LGBTQ2S+

people.

162

Melanie Omeniho suggested to the Committee that police services should

develop a best practices protocol for dealing with missing person reports of Métis,

including specific steps to be taken to action them.

163

With respect to current government action to address missing and murdered Indigenous

women, girls and LGBTQ2S+ people, Minister Blair testified that the Government has

funded reviews of policing practices and policies in light of the final report of the

National Commission of Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and

Girls, as a means of identifying current problems.

164

Commissioner Brenda Lucki testified

that the RCMP is adopting a “trauma-informed approach”

165

as part of the actions

responding to missing and murdered Indigenous women, as well as establishing a

“national office of investigative standards and practices” to ensure all investigations “will

be dealt with the same way regardless of what individual is the victim and what

individual is the criminal.”

166

2.4.3 Systemic Racism in Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

Police services have an important role to play in the investigation and enforcement

of gender-based and sexual violence offences against Indigenous women, and in

protecting Indigenous women who are the victims of violence. Indigenous women are

at heightened risk of violence relative to Indigenous men and non-Indigenous women.

167

However, due to the historical trauma they have faced, Indigenous women are

160

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1110 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee);

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1615 (Melanie Omeniho).

161

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1510 (Myrna Lashley).

162

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1330 (Lorraine Whitman,

President, Native Women’s Association of Canada).

163

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Melanie Omeniho).

164

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 24 June 2020, 1700 (Hon. Bill Blair).

165

Ibid., 1835 (Commissioner Brenda Lucki, Commissioner, Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

166

Ibid.

167

Human Rights Watch, Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security: Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, 9 December 2020, p. 4.

stigmatized throughout the criminal justice system and perceived as having substance

use or other social problems that result in them not being seen as “credible or worthy

victims.”

168

Furthermore, abusive and racist treatment by police officers has in some

cases made Indigenous women feel unsafe reporting their own victimization to these

agencies. For example, Melanie Omeniho explained to the Committee that during the

National Commission of Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and

Girls, the Women of the Métis Nation – Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak heard many

reports of women who ended up becoming victims of the police service itself, so they

felt unsafe to go to police when they were victims of violence.

169

Human Rights Watch

noted that they “heard from community members and direct services staff how police

abuse contributed to historic distrust between Indigenous communities and law

enforcement and discouraged many from calling the police for help.”

170

Gerri Sharpe, explained that research undertaken by the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of

Canada revealed profound problems of systemic racism and colonialism in policing in

Nunavut. She described many facets to this problem, including a lack of community

services and support for Inuit women and a police service that is “poorly integrated into

the community and therefore not seen as trustworthy.”

171

She suggested the police have

little understanding of the root causes of drug and alcohol abuse and violence within

the population.

172

She highlighted that while communication is a fundamental skill in

policing, less than 5 of the 150 police officers serving in the RCMP in Nunavut are

capable of speaking Inuktitut, which is a barrier for women seeking to report

experiences of violence.

173

One of the outcomes of systemic racism in policing impacting

Inuit women in Nunavut reported by the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada was that

several women who were victims of domestic violence had been removed from their

homes instead of their abuser, a trauma-inducing situation that adds to the injustice

experienced.

174

Furthermore, police officers had failed to monitor court-imposed

sanctions, leading to mistrust of police and risk for women.

175

168

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1415–1420 (Viviane Michel).

169

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1620 (Melanie Omeniho).

170

Human Rights Watch, Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security: Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, 9 December 2020, p. 11.

171

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1715 (Gerri Sharpe).

172

Ibid.

173

Ibid.

174

Ibid.

175

Ibid.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

To address the issue of gender-based and sexual violence against Indigenous women,

Samantha Michaels, a Senior Research and Policy Advisor for the Pauktuutit Inuit

Women of Canada, suggested ensuring that a family liaison officer and female police

officer are available in all Inuit communities.

176

While appropriate police training and practices are crucial to addressing gender-based

violence, community and social service organizations that assist women who experience

this violence are necessary and lacking. For example, Ms. Michaels explained to the

Committee that in Nunavut there are insufficient shelters for women and insufficient

resources to address domestic violence, leaving the local RCMP with few options to

assist victims.

177

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 17

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police ensure that in all jurisdictions where they are

the police service responsible for First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, that a

family liaison officer, and wherever reasonably possible, one female officer is available to

address gender-based violence.

Recommendation 18

That the Government of Canada encourage the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to

develop an action plan with concrete measures to address systemic racism and violence

against Indigenous women using an intersectional approach, taking into account the

different types of discrimination Indigenous women face and how these types of

discrimination intersect.

Recommendation 19

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police establish programs and review and revise

policies to encourage officers who are stationed in First Nations, Métis, Inuit and

Northern communities to accept longer postings in order to better establish ties with the

communities they are serving.

176

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1800 (Samantha Michaels,

Senior Research and Policy Advisor, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada).

177

Ibid., 1745.

2.5 Mental Health, Social Services and Crisis Response

2.5.1 The Increasing Interactions Between Police and Persons in Crisis

Addressing mental health crises and responding to “wellness checks” was identified as a

major and growing challenge facing Canadian police services. RCMP Commissioner

Brenda Lucki described that:

Our calls related to mental health are growing exponentially. We were looking at the

statistics, and there are close to 10,000 calls a month or more just on mental

health crises.

178

Furthermore, Chief Dale McFee of the Edmonton Police Service estimated “social issues

related to mental health, addictions, poverty and homelessness […] account for 80% to

92% of all calls for service.”

179

He highlighted that it is incumbent on police services to

ensure that these calls are addressed differently from those involving repeat criminal

offenders because a failure to do so will falsely inflate crime rates, undermine relations

between police and the communities they serve, and alter perceptions of legitimacy.

180

The issue of police responses to mental health and other forms of crisis relates to

systemic racism in several ways. The committee heard that people from racialized

communities often don’t have access to or connections with services leading to crises in

the community for which the only source of assistance is the police.

181

Additionally, the

trauma of experiencing racism can negatively impact the mental health of Indigenous

and racialized people. Professor Myrna Lashley explained that:

Racism is bad for your health. It's bad for your health because people end up with

hypertension, coronary vascular disease and tremendous mental health difficulties. The

pressure of having to constantly maintain the facade of being okay in order to function

within a society where the system—not the people, but the system—is built to be

against people of colour is very wearying.

182

178

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1900 (Commr. Brenda Lucki).

179

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1230 (Chief Dale McFee).

180

Ibid.

181

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1230 (Chief Nishan Duraiappah).

182

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1450 (Myrna Lashley).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

2.5.2 Community Services and Community Responses to Crisis

Many witnesses who provided evidence to the Committee, including both civilians and

police officers, emphasized that change is needed to ensure appropriate responses to

mental health crises in the community and to put in place preventative measures to

support people experiencing mental health issues and other challenges to get the help

they need before a crisis develops. The Committee heard that mental health and

addictions services, social services and resources to address homelessness are needed

because at present police are being called upon to address social issues they are not

equipped to handle. For example, Chief Peter Sloly of the Ottawa Police Service

expressed that:

The community and police do not want to be the only or even primary response

option to every call for service everywhere on a 24-7, 365 basis. This model does not

fully serve the community's needs, and it puts police officers in an untenable position

where they do not and cannot have the knowledge, skills and abilities to consistently

and successfully deal with non-police related calls, most notably with people suffering

from mental health issues or addictions.

183

Similarly, Brian Sauvé, President of the National Police Federation, expressed that

members of his organization, along with other Canadians, want to see an increase in

front-line resources that help alleviate the pressure on vulnerable members of society,

and by extension, police services.

184

Some witnesses suggested that traditional police responses to mental health and social

crises have not worked and advocated for shifting funding to social and community

services. Jeffrey Schiffer explained that recent studies suggest that typical police service

responses to mental health crises and wellness checks are ineffective.

185

Some witnesses

called for the reallocation of funding away from policing and towards community and

mental health service provision. For example, Ruth Goba, Executive Director of the Black

Legal Action Centre, testified that her organization recommends reallocating “resources

away from police budgets and into public health, housing, transit, children’s services,

mental health resources, schools, employment, community centres and other social

service budgets.”

186

Additionally, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples suggested in a brief

183

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1215–1220 (Chief Peter Sloly, Chief of

Police, Ottawa Police Service).

184

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1515 (Brian Sauvé, President, National

Police Federation).

185

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1510 (Jeffrey Schiffer).

186

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1520 (Ruth Goba).

submitted to the Committee that sufficient resources must be provided for Indigenous

community programs, including “long-term sustainable capacity-building funding for off-

reserve and urban Indigenous organizations”.

187

Addressing recent calls to “defund” the police services, Jeffrey Schiffer stated that:

For me, it's less about defunding police and more about a thoughtful consideration of

how resources might be reallocated to community organizations to take on some of the

work related to community safety, mental health response and victims services for

Indigenous people and racialized communities.

188

Aluki Kotierk, President of Nunavut Tunngavik, expressed that in Nunavut there is a lack

of mental health services and supports, which often leaves the RCMP as the “first stop”

for Inuit to get access to care and care is frequently not provided.

189

Some witnesses

suggested the development of non-police crisis response systems that would involve

community service providers in the de-escalation of crises. An example of a currently

operating non-police crisis response was provided by Chief Bill, who described the

Community Safety Officer program developed in the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, which

involves specially trained community members and Indigenous people who act as

liaisons between the community and police and can be involved in de-escalation of

crises.

190

Witnesses pointed out that removing police from situations where they are not

required can help to prevent harms of systemic racism, including high levels of use of

force against racialized people

191

and police-involved deaths.

192

2.5.3 Police and Mental Health System Partnerships

While some witnesses highlighted the need to provide more concrete mental health

and social support systems in the community to respond to crises or prevent them

altogether, the Committee also heard that police services have developed internal

systems aimed at ensuring improved police responses to crises. For example,

Tom Stamatakis, President of the Canadian Police Association, highlighted that many

Canadian police agencies employ mobile crisis intervention teams that pair mental

187

Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples: Submission to the Standing Committee on

Public Safety and National Security, 10 July 2020, p. 6.

188

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1515 (Jeffrey Schiffer).

189

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1125 (Aluki Kotierk).

190

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1415 (Chief Doris Bill).

191

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1550 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

192

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1610 (Allen Benson).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

health nurses with police officers to provide rapid response to community crises.

193

Many witnesses expressed that these partnerships are helpful and provide effective

crisis response in the community. For example, Inspector Patrick Roy, who is the

manager of the psychosocial mobile intervention team for the City of Sherbrooke’s

police service, explained that his team is comprised of a police officer and a social

worker who respond to mental health calls in the community.

194

He noted that the

program was a success and has been expanding over recent years due to the significant

need for responses to mental health calls in the community.

195

However, Julian Falconer

expressed reservations about these teams suggesting that they have not been made

available during all hours of the day and week and often are not employed to

de-escalate conflicts, but in some cases only respond after a situation has been brought

under control by police officers.

196

Some witnesses also noted that it is important to recognize that mental health calls and

other calls for service (including calls for responses to criminal behaviour) are not always

distinct and mental health can play a role in many types of law enforcement

interactions.

197

Mr. Stamatakis explained that while ideally police would not be the first

response to mental health crises, there would always be a role for police responders in

contexts where there is a danger to the public.

198

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 20

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories, municipalities

and Indigenous communities to ensure adequate funding and service responsibilities

related to mental health response and victim services.

193

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1230 (Tom Stamatakis, President,

Canadian Police Association).

194

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 7 December 2020, 1535 (Patrick Roy, Inspector,

Regional Surveillance Division, Service de Police de la Ville de Sherbrooke).

195

Ibid.

196

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1315 (Julian Falconer).

197

Ibid., 1255 (Chief Nishan Duraiappah).

198

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1225 (Tom Stamatakis).

Recommendation 21

That the Government of Canada work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and

provincial and municipal police services to encourage the use of persons specialized in

victim services and mental health who would be available with first responders in

situations requiring de-escalation.

Recommendation 22

That the Government of Canada properly resource the Civilian Review and Complaints

Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to conduct an independent review

of RCMP operational policies and practices such as “wellness checks” and develop a

timeline for corrective action to end police violence and ensure the safety and security of

those in need of mental health support.

Recommendation 23

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories to create an

Indigenous-led working group to better examine the service needs related to mental

health and victim services of the rapidly growing urban Indigenous population and

ensure that mental health responses, victim services and community safety and policing

programs serving Indigenous people living in urban areas are adequately resourced.

2.6 Racial Profiling, “Carding,” “Street Checks” and the

Criminalization of Indigenous and Racialized People

Police in Canada perform an important role as gate-keepers of the criminal justice

system and their exercise of discretion determines, in part, whose behaviour will be

subject to criminalization.

199

Witnesses who provided evidence during this study

explained that police powers can be exercised in racist ways and that policing practices

and decision-making can contribute to disparities and over-representation of Indigenous

and racialized people in the criminal justice system. Furthermore, structural inequalities

can lead to Indigenous and racialized communities being over-policed.

199

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

, Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1705

(Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

2.6.1 Over-representation of Indigenous and Racialized People Within

the Canadian Criminal Justice System and Over-policing

The Committee heard from many witnesses that at present Indigenous people have high

rates of incarceration.

200

As Chief Picard explained:

Numerous studies have confirmed that First Nations people are more likely to be

detained by the police following an arrest, most often on the basis of prejudice and

racism. They are also more likely to be detained for long periods of time as part of the

bail process. They are more likely to be sentenced to imprisonment and, too often, for

long periods. They are more likely to be imprisoned for non-payment of fines.

201

Additionally, many witnesses explained that systemic racism has similarly resulted in

racialized people being over-represented in the criminal justice system. As social worker

and sociologist Robert S. Wright explained:

We're overpoliced, overcharged, overprosecuted, disproportionately found guilty, have

higher sentences, have differential and negative experiences while under correctional

supervision, serve our sentences longer, and have a harder time transitioning into the

community and receiving education and employment thereafter.

I think that’s the effect systemic racism tends to have on racialized people in Canada as

it comes to policing and contact with the criminal justice system.

202

In a brief submitted to the Committee, the Assembly of First Nations remarked that

over-policing, the dedication of a disproportionate amount of police resources to law

enforcement within particular racialized and Indigenous communities, has impacted First

Nations communities and First Nations people in “urban, rural, and remote settings.”

203

Chief McCaffrey, explained that “years of overpolicing of Indigenous, Black and other

marginalized people by conventional policing services have caused significant mistrust

of police.”

204

Professor Akwasi Owusu-Bempah provided the example of arrests for minor drug

offences, where studies from Canada and other countries suggest that members of

200

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1115 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee);

Ibid.,1230 (Benson Cowan).

201

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief Ghislain Picard).

202

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1325 (Robert S. Wright, social worker and

sociologist, As an Individual).

203

Assembly of First Nations, Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security: Study on Systemic Racism in Police Services in Canada, 7 August 2020, p. 5.

204

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1415 (Chief Terry McCaffrey).

different racial groups use drugs at similar rates, yet there are stark differences in drug

possession arrests between racial groups.

205

He expressed that:

While some of these differences can likely be attributed to officer behaviour and

institutional policies and practices, the heightened police presence in the lives of

Black and Indigenous people also plays an important role.

206

He explained that over-policing is a form of structural racism, noting that Black and

Indigenous people face racism in education and employment which can lead them to be

more likely to experience poverty or live in low-income areas with higher crime rates

and a heightened police presence.

207

2.6.2 Carding, Street Checks, Racial Profiling, and Discrimination in

Police Discretion

In addition to Indigenous and racialized communities experiencing heightened levels of

policing, witnesses raised concerns about the discriminatory exercise of police discretion

when deciding whether to stop, arrest, or criminally charge an individual.

For example, Professor Samuels-Wortley explained that her research concerning the

exercise of police discretion to choose alternative measures to the court system for

youth apprehended for committing a crime, as provided for in the Youth Criminal Justice

Act,

208

suggests Black youth are less likely than youth from other backgrounds to receive

alternative measures.

209

The Committee also heard testimony about racial profiling and

its relationship to “carding” and “street checks.” The term “racial profiling” was

described by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Le, 2019 SCC 34:

[T]he concept of racial profiling is primarily concerned with the motivation of the

police. It occurs when race or racial stereotypes about offending or dangerousness

are used, consciously or unconsciously, to any degree in suspect selection or

subject treatment.

210

In other words, racial profiling involves police consciously or unconsciously applying

stereotypes about racial groups when deciding whom to stop, detain, arrest, charge, or

205

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1325 (Robert S. Wright).

206

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1520 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

207

Ibid.

208

See: Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c. 1, ss. 6, 7.

209

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1705 (Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

210

R. v. Le, 2019 SCC 34, para. 76.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

otherwise subject to policing. Many witnesses provided evidence about practices of

racial profiling by Canadian police services. For example, with respect to racial profiling

against Black Canadians, author Robyn Maynard explained to the Committee that:

Studies conducted in Toronto, Edmonton, Montreal, Halifax and Vancouver

demonstrate that Black people are stopped by police at a rate anywhere from two to

six times more frequently than white residents.

211

Ruth Goba, Executive Director of the Black Legal Action Centre explained that her

organization regularly receives calls from community members who are experiencing or

have experienced racial profiling. She explained that “carding” and “street checks” are

merely new terminology for racial profiling and people have been speaking about racial

profiling for decades.

212

Justice Michael Tulloch has defined “street checks” as

“information obtained by a police officer concerning an individual, outside of a police

station, which is not part of an investigation.”

213

He differentiates “street checks” from

“carding”, the latter which he defines as “situations where a police officer randomly asks

an individual to provide identifying information when the individual is not suspected of

any crime nor is there any reason to believe that the individual has information about

any crime.”

214

However, the terms “carding” and “street checks” are often used

interchangeably to describe police stopping an individual and seeking identifying

information or other information from them. Both “street checks” and “carding” can

involve racial profiling.

In their testimony, many witnesses described current practices of street checks or

carding being used in Canada to target racialized communities. Robert S. Wright

described the ongoing practice of street checks and carding being used against Black

residents of Halifax. He explained that the community had worked to get this practice

banned and several reports have been published describing the problem, but that these

practices have persisted.

215

Professor Samuels-Wortley explained that several studies

conducted in Canadian cities have demonstrated that Black men are “grossly over-

represented in the official street check statistics.”

216

She explained that the research

suggests that:

211

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 November 2020, 1705 (Robyn Maynard).

212

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1555 (Ruth Goba).

213

Hon. Justice Michael H. Tulloch, Report of the Independent Street Checks Review, 2018, p. 36

214

Ibid., p. 35.

215

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1255 (Robert S. Wright).

216

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1705 (Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

[R]acial differences with respect to police contact remain even after controlling for

other relevant factors including gender, social class, neighbourhood characteristics and

criminal behaviour.

In other words, racial differences in police contact cannot be explained away by poverty

or involvement in crime. Race matters. If you're a Black man in Canada, the question is

not if you will be stopped, but when.

217

Minister Blair condemned racial profiling expressing that:

[R]acial profiling and any action of the police that is based on bias is not only

unacceptable and abhorrent; it's contrary to law. It's contrary to the Canadian Human

Rights Act […] and it's contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is the

highest law in the country—

218

In response to the problem of racial profiling and the related practices of carding and

street checks, some witnesses advocated for banning these practices. For example,

Alain Babineau recommended passing an anti-racial profiling law,

219

and

Robert S. Wright advocated for a “national directive” banning street checks.

220

2.6.3 Restorative Justice and Other Measures to Address the

Criminalization of Indigenous and Racialized People

Restorative justice programs and diversionary measures were identified by witnesses as

assisting to reduce incarceration of Indigenous and racialized people. Witnesses

expressed that restorative justice programs can provide an alternative to criminalization

for Indigenous and racialized communities and assist to keep people out of the criminal

justice system.

221

The Committee also heard that access to diversion programs is lacking

in some Canadian regions, including Nunavut.

222

With respect to the over-representation of African Canadians in the criminal justice

system, the Black Legal Action Centre recommended that the federal government

should:

217

Ibid.

218

SECU Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1739 (Hon. Bill Blair).

219

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 7 December 2020, 1535 (Alain Babineau).

220

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1255 (Robert S. Wright).

221

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1325 (Lorraine Whitman).

222

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1310 (Benson Cowan).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Develop and implement a national corrections strategy to address and correct the

disproportionately high rates of African Canadians in the correctional system and ensure

anti-discriminatory and culturally specific services for African Canadian offenders.

223

Additionally, Chief Bryan Larkin explained the Canadian Association of Chiefs of

Police (CACP) proposal to decriminalize the simple possession of drugs. He explained

that the CACP advocates for a “public health-led model”

224

of policing because he

suggested at present “We're criminalizing addictions. We're criminalizing homelessness.

We're criminalizing many issues that should be diverted elsewhere.”

225

Robyn Maynard

expressed that the “decriminalization of drugs could really substantively impact the

well-being of Black communities.”

226

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 24

That the Government of Canada decriminalize the simple possession of all illicit drugs as

called upon by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and public health officials.

Recommendation 25

That the Government of Canada offer pardons for all individuals convicted of simple

possession of illicit drugs.

Recommendation 26

That the Government of Canada adopt a national policy that prohibits racial profiling

and other forms of selective identification and recording of the presence of members of

the public other than for investigative purposes and denounces such practices as

discriminatory and contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

223

Black Legal Action Centre, The Submission of the Black Legal Action Centre to the Standing Committee on

Public Safety and National Security (SECU) Regarding Issues of Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada,

24 July 2020.

224

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1300 (Chief Bryan Larkin); Canadian

Association of Chiefs of Police, Special Purpose Committee on the Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs, Findings

and Recommendations Report: Decriminalization for Simple Possession of Illicit Drugs: Exploring Impacts on

Public Safety and Policing, July 2020.

225

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1300 (Chief Bryan Larkin).

226

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 November 2020, 1725 (Robyn Maynard).

Recommendation 27

That the Government of Canada provide increased funding to ensure that restorative

justice programs are effective and available to Indigenous, Black and other racialized

people throughout the country.

Recommendation 28

That the Government of Canada amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act, to ensure a police

officer’s discretion to choose alternative measures to the court system when

apprehending a youth who has committed a crime is applied equitably, so that

alternative sanctions are fairly offered to everyone; that specific procedures or

guidelines be put in place to determine what crimes would permit alternative sanction so

that equal access is given to this privilege.

Recommendation 29

That the Government of Canada develop a national strategy to address and correct the

disproportionately high rates of Indigenous and Black people in the criminal justice

system and ensure anti-discriminatory and culturally specific services for Indigenous and

Black people.

2.7 Police Use of Force Against Indigenous and Racialized People

2.7.1 Police Use of Force

Throughout the course of its study on systemic racism in policing in Canada, the

Committee heard many witnesses express concerns about excessive or unnecessary use

of force by police against Indigenous and racialized people. Witnesses explained that

Indigenous and racialized people are over-represented among recipients of police use of

force and among police-involved deaths.

227

For example, the Committee heard that Inuit

disproportionately experience police violence and have relatively higher police-involved

death rates than others.

228

The Committee also heard that in Toronto, Black people are

more likely to be recipients of police use of force, but also subject to greater force than

227

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1120 (Natan Obed); SECU, Evidence,

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah); SECU, Evidence,

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Kent Roach).

228

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1120 (Natan Obed).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

white people.

229

Professor Owusu-Bempah pointed out, however, that the full extent of

use of force by police in Canada is unclear because data on use of force is not

systematically collected by all Canadian police services.

230

The Committee also heard that use of force by police in Canada is a relatively rare

occurrence, with force involved in less than 1% of police calls.

231

Additionally, Professor

Christian Leuprecht explained that most police use of force in Canada is in accordance

with the National Use of Force Framework, which represents the legal standards

governing its use.

232

To address the over-representation of racialized and Indigenous people among recipients

of police use of force some witnesses suggested that police use of force and self-defence

laws should be reviewed and reformed. While both federal and provincial laws can

impact police use of force, statutory defences for the use of force by police and other

persons engaged in the administration or enforcement of the law or in the prevention of

a breach of the peace or riot, are contained in the federal Criminal Code.

233

Additionally,

self-defence provisions applicable in contexts where anyone, including a police officer,

uses reasonable force to protect themselves from use of force or a threat of force by

another person are also contained in the Criminal Code.

234

Use of force without legal

justification can be a criminal offence or a civil tort so the standards set out in the

statutory defence and self-defence provisions of the Criminal Code significantly shape

use of force law in Canada. Allen Benson, expressed to the Committee that in his

opinion, the statutory defence provisions in the Criminal Code provide a “very vague”

235

definition of what “reasonable use of force” entails, leading to differing frameworks and

policies on use of force being applied across Canada by provincial and municipal police

services.

236

He suggested a federal standard with clear definition of use of force should

be created with input from civilians, women, Indigenous peoples and minority groups,

and incorporated in the Criminal Code and federal policing legislation.

237

To clarify

229

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

230

Ibid.

231

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1815 (Commr. Brenda Lucki); SECU,

Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1815 (Brian Sauvé).

232

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1100 (Christian Leuprecht).

233

Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, ss. 25, 26, 27, 30, 32.

234

Ibid., s. 34.

235

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Allen Benson).

236

Ibid.

237

Ibid.

federal self-defence laws, that can also apply to police use of force, Professor Roach

suggested: “Parliament should make clear that reasonable self-defence cannot be based

on racist fears, even if those are genuinely and subjectively held.”

238

Additionally, with

respect to police policies on use of force, Vice-Chief Teegee recommended implementing

a “zero-tolerance policy” on excessive use of force.

239

2.7.2 De-Escalation

The Committee also heard that police service policies and training on de-escalation are

relevant to addressing disproportionate use of force against Indigenous and racialized

people. Michelaine Lahaie suggested that police training on de-escalation is critical

when police respond to situations like “wellness checks.”

240

Many witnesses advocated for increased de-escalation training for police.

241

Professor

Owusu-Bempah suggested that comparatively less time in police training should focus

on physical skills, like swimming, use of a firearm and high-speed pursuits, and relatively

more time should be devoted to training on de-escalation and police interactions with

the public.

242

Lorraine Whitman noted that, in a meeting with Commissioner Lucki, she

had requested that the RCMP work with Indigenous people to develop new de-

escalation protocols created for and with Indigenous people.

243

Julian Falconer testified

with respect to his experience working on inquests pertaining to police-involved deaths,

that police services have repeatedly been unable to effectively reallocate their resources

towards de-escalation measures and away from a “militaristic concept”

244

of policing.

238

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Kent Roach).

239

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1110 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

240

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1135 (Michelaine Lahaie).

241

Assembly of First Nations, Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and

National Security: Study on Systemic Racism in Police Services in Canada, 7 August 2020, p. 21.

242

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

243

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1325 (Lorraine Whitman).

244

Ibid., 1315 (Julian Falconer).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 30

That the Government of Canada work in consultation with civilians, Indigenous peoples,

and Black and other racialized Canadians, to review the federal use of force framework

to ensure that it:

• defines permissible use of force in greater detail;

• provides requirements for the operational use of

de-escalation tactics;

• prioritizes de-escalation in use of force philosophy, tactics

and training;

• respects as a guiding principle that officers use the least force

necessary in the circumstances; and

• requires adequate ongoing training of officers.

Recommendation 31

That the Government of Canada request that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police create

a nationwide database of police use of force incident data disaggregated by race, colour,

ethnic background, national origin, gender and other identities; regularly collect this data

by implementing a mandatory reporting policy, and regularly publicize the

data collected.

Recommendation 32

That the Government of Canada work with provinces, territories, police services and

chiefs of police across the country to develop a similar national database including all

Canadian police services.

Recommendation 33

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police enforce its zero-tolerance policy for excessive

use of force and that there be serious consequences for excessive use of force regardless

of whether the threshold is met to lay criminal charges against the officer involved.

2.8 Cultural Awareness, Anti-Racism, Implicit Bias and Diversity

Training

Throughout its study of Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada, the Committee heard

about the importance of police training that seeks to promote cultural awareness,

prevent bias and racism, and foster diversity. Many witnesses emphasized the

importance of police training in equipping officers to work with the diverse cultures and

communities they interact with and to learn about the history of racism and colonialism

in Canada. It was also suggested that training can equip police officers to recognize their

own biases and assist them to provide services free of racial discrimination. For example,

Melanie Omeniho expressed:

A complete re-education of the entire police system is required. This training must go

beyond a tick box of cross-cultural training, but must cause the system and participants

to fully examine their biases, both overt and unconscious.

245

With respect to current cultural awareness and anti-bias training provided to RCMP

officers, the Committee heard testimony from Commissioner Lucki, about the “blanket

exercise”, which provides cadets with training led by an Indigenous elder on “the history

of Indigenous cultures”

246

and the impact of their actions in the field. She also explained

that cadets complete a mandatory online cultural awareness course, and training on

trauma-informed approaches to dealing with victims of crime.

247

Additionally, she

explained that when RCMP members are assigned to their divisions, they complete a

one-week “Indigenous perceptions course” specific to the province they will be

working in.

248

Many witnesses emphasized the importance of training police officers to understand

the historical and contemporary experiences of racialized and Indigenous peoples who

live in the particular communities that they serve. For example, Gerri Sharpe expressed

that non-Inuit people involved in policing Inuit communities require specialized training

to develop cultural competency.

249

Professor Samuels-Wortley pointed out that when

officers initially arrive at training they need to be taught about the history of colonialism

245

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1610 (Melanie Omeniho).

246

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1715 (Commr. Brenda Lucki); SECU,

Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1745 (Commr. Brenda Lucki).

247

Ibid., 1745.

248

Ibid.

249

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1745 (Gerri Sharpe).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

and slavery in Canada, to provide them with an understanding of systemic racism.

250

Senator Vernon White, a former Assistant Commissioner of the RCMP, explained that

when he was working in the Yukon, RCMP officers would be educated in First Nations

communities and would be mentored by local elders, a system which he explained was

beneficial for building relationships with these communities and learning about them.

251

Eleanor Sunchild, a lawyer, provided a brief to the Committee recommending that police

officers “should receive culturally specific training which includes direct involvement

with the Indigenous communities they intend to serve.”

252

Melanie Omeniho suggested

that police services should provide training to police officers on the unique history and

needs of the Métis community and establish better communication with these

communities through the implementation of representative advisory boards involving

community members.

253

Vice-Chief Teegee emphasized that many Indigenous people

served by police live in urban centres and expressed that urban police services should be

trained about colonialism and the lived experiences and perspectives of

Indigenous people.

254

However, some witnesses also expressed skepticism about the efficacy of more police

training as a means of combatting systemic racism and some witnesses cautioned the

Committee against assuming that training alone can adequately address systemic racism.

For example, Jeffrey Schiffer explained that in a large study evaluating training, the

promotion of inclusion, and the establishment of institutional responsibility initiatives

undertaken by police services, training was found to have the least impact on systemic

racism. While all three strategies used together could be successful, “systemic racism

in policing is driven by a constellation of individual, group, institutional, and social

elements.”

255

Additionally, Professor Samuels-Wortley emphasized that it is important to

evaluate the effectiveness of anti-racism training initiatives to determine the impact

they have on the way police provide services in their communities.

256

250

Ibid., 1755 (Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

251

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1255 (Hon. Vernon White).

252

Eleanor Sunchild, Submissions of Eleanor Sunchild, Q.C., to the House of Commons Standing Committee on

Public Safety and National Security: Study on Systemic Racism in Police Services in Canada,

4 December 2020, p. 4.

253

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1615 (Melanie Omeniho).

254

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1205 (Vice-Chief Terry Teegee).

255

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1510 (Jeffrey Schiffer).

256

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1800

(Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 34

That the Government of Canada ensure that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police work in

collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities to establish advisory

committees composed of elders, community leaders and cultural facilitators to ensure

police practises and procedures address community needs.

Recommendation 35

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police improve training to ensure that it includes

enhanced de-escalation, implicit bias, gender-based violence, cultural awareness, and

the history of colonialism and slavery in Canada.

Recommendation 36

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police mandate that officers receive specific cultural

competency training developed in collaboration with the racialized, First Nations, Inuit,

and Métis communities they intend to serve.

2.9 Racial, Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and

Representativeness of Canadian Police Services

The Committee repeatedly heard from witnesses about the importance of police

services being representative of the communities they serve and the importance of

fostering diversity in policing. Additionally, many witnesses spoke to current barriers that

prevent the recruitment of Indigenous and racialized people in Canadian police services.

The Committee heard from Commissioner Lucki that the RCMP would like a more

diverse membership that reflects the communities served, and is working to remove any

unintentional bias in recruitment or training policies.

257

Commissioner Lucki testified

that according to self-identification statistics for RCMP police officers, 78% are male and

21% are female; 11.5% are members of a visible minority group; 7.5% are Indigenous;

and 1.6% are people with disabilities.

258

Several witnesses expressed concerns about the current diversity and

representativeness of the RCMP, particularly with respect to its work in Indigenous

257

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1815 (Commr. Brenda Lucki).

258

Ibid., 1820.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

communities. For example, Aluki Kotierk and Natan Obed explained to the Committee

that there are not enough Inuit members of the RCMP policing Inuit communities.

259

Natan Obed noted that as of September 2019, only three out of 131 RCMP regular

officers in Nunavut were Inuit and in Nunavik only three out of 70 police officers were

Inuit.

260

He explained that increased recruitment of Inuit and Inuktitut speakers by the

RCMP is crucial in order to build trust with Inuit communities and to improve police

communication with the Inuit population.

261

As Aluki Kotierk explained:

Nunavut is quite unique among all other jurisdictions in that it's the only jurisdiction

that has an Indigenous majority population that speaks a first language that is neither of

the two official languages of Canada. That makes it extremely important that the police

officers and the employees of these police officers are able to understand Inuit culture

and are able to understand Inuktitut.

262

Natan Obed expressed that Inuktitut language skills and cultural knowledge of the Inuit

about their communities is not currently valued in the context of human resources at

the RCMP and suggested this must change.

263

Witnesses mentioned several potential barriers to recruitment of more Inuit RCMP

officers. These included the itinerant nature of the RCMP’s police service, which

routinely moves officers around to different communities rather than allowing them to

work in their home community.

264

Other witnesses suggested that the culture of the

RCMP itself might prove a barrier to recruitment. For example, Robert S. Wright

expressed with respect to policing in the North, that:

To ask Indigenous people to train in a colonial form of policing to police their own

communities is really to ask them to adopt an internal identity struggle before they even

have their first day on the job.

265

Concerns about the history and culture of the RCMP were also shared in relation to

the recruitment of Indigenous police officers more broadly. For example, Lorraine

Whitman explained that the history of police involvement in the residential schools and

259

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1120 (Natan Obed) & 1125

(Aluki Kotierk).

260

Ibid., 1140 (Natan Obed).

261

Ibid., 1120.

262

Ibid., 1145 (Aluki Kotierk).

263

Ibid., 1200 (Natan Obed).

264

Ibid., 1140.

265

Ibid., 1315 (Robert S. Wright).

Sixties Scoop leads Indigenous people not to want to be a part of something that’s been

experienced as “so negative and so hurtful.”

266

In contrast, however, Chief McCaffrey

explained that recruitment and retention of police officers has not posed a problem for

the Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service. He explained:

What it boils down to is that our community supports us. Because of that, we're able

to work with our community and build recruiting sessions that are attracting people

from our community.

267

Professor Owusu-Bempah explained to the Committee that it is important to examine

the experiences of racialized officers within police services when seeking to address

systemic racism. He explained:

Many police services across the country have made great efforts to increase the

diversity of their workforce, and I mean diversity in terms of what all their officers

look like, but unfortunately, my own research tells me that racialized officers do not feel

that they are taken into the police subculture and brought into the police brotherhood.

I use the term “brotherhood” there purposely. They're overlooked for task and area

assignments, and too often passed over for promotion.

268

With respect to the RCMP, Professor Leuprecht pointed the Committee to the National

Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians 2019 annual report, which

showed that visible minority people are under-represented in the RCMP, including

among senior ranks, and which documented resistance to diversity and inclusion within

the organization.

269

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 37

That the Government of Canada in collaboration with First Nations, Métis and Inuit

communities prioritize the recruitment of Indigenous people and women into Indigenous

police services.

266

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1140 (Lorraine Whitman).

267

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1435 (Chief Terry McCaffrey).

268

Ibid., 1525 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

269

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1105 (Christian Leuprecht); National

Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, Annual Report, 2019, 30 August 2019.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

Recommendation 38

That the Government of Canada encourage the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to

ensure diversity in hiring for all levels within the police service so that it better reflects

the communities that it serves, specifically with a goal of hiring more Indigenous and

racialized people, and women.

Recommendation 39

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police be encouraged to review their screening

process for new recruits to ensure that those with biases against Indigenous and

racialized people and women be rejected.

Recommendation 40

That the Royal Canadian Mounted Police be encouraged to take into consideration Inuit

language skills and community knowledge when evaluating candidates and making

decisions surrounding deployment of officers.

2.10 Race-Based Data Collection and Dissemination

Disaggregated race-based data is important to identify problems with policing policies or

practices that may result in racist outcomes and to evaluate the results of reforms aimed

at reducing systemic racism. Many participants to this study advocated for the collection

of disaggregated race-based data and Indigenous-specific data on policing in Canada

arguing this information is necessary to understand and address the impacts of systemic

racism on Canadians. Ruth Goba explained “Where data is collected, you are able to

understand where the disparity is, where the difference is, and you can fix it.”

270

Niemi, Executive Director of the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations, described

the need for race-based data collection in policing as a matter of science, pointing out

that without race-based data collection evidence-based public policy decisions are

impossible.

271

The Committee heard that the collection of disaggregated race-based data

has been identified by human rights experts as an important step to take when working

to eliminate systemic racism.

272

270

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 11, 24 July 2020, 1545 (Ruth Goba).

271

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 18 November 2020, 1740 (Fo Niemi, Executive

Director, Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations).

272

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1215 (Chief Peter Sloly).

The Committee also heard acknowledgement from those responsible for federal policing

that race-based data is important to addressing racism. Minister Blair suggested

collection of such data would be “invaluable and necessary”

273

and RCMP Commissioner

Lucki suggested such data would be “crucial”

274

to examine racial disparities and how to

address them.

Several particular types of race-based data were identified by witnesses as helpful to

collect. These included:

• police stops, searches and arrests;

275

• hit rates from stops;

276

• charges dropped by the Crown; and

277

• use of force incidents.

278

With respect to data on police use of force, Professor Owusu-Bempah suggested the

creation of a national use of force database because at present this information is not

systematically collected, the extent of use of force by police in Canada is unknown, and

this information is consequently unavailable to inform government, policy-makers and

researchers.

279

Similarly, Professor Leuprecht noted the necessity for the systematic

collection of use of force statistics throughout Canada to identify the challenges faced.

280

However, while the Committee heard consensus among many witnesses on the need to

collect race-based data, some witnesses also cautioned that it is important to proceed

carefully in the collection and use of this data, including ensuring that the right policies

and practices are in place to prevent misuse. For example, Robert S. Wright advised the

committee of the importance of ensuring those handling and analyzing this data have

an understanding of systemic racism and the knowledge and skills to apply critical race

273

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 7, 23 June 2020, 1800 (Hon. Bill Blair).

274

Ibid., 1905 (Commr. Brenda Lucki).

275

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

276

Ibid.

277

Ibid.

278

Ibid.

279

Ibid.

280

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1100 (Christian Leuprecht).

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

analysis to avoid data being used to reinforce racist stereotypes.

281

Additionally,

Professor Owusu-Bempah suggested that such data collection must be

“comprehensive”

282

because cursory data collection could be used to further stigmatize

groups and lead to policies producing greater marginalization.

Concern was also expressed that data collection must translate into concrete action.

Benson Cowan, Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Services Board of Nunavut,

expressed the importance of ensuring data collection causes policy change, noting that

even where evidence has been collected and is clear about the inequities in the justice

system, “a big gap remains in how it informs policy and operational choices on the part

of the institutions”

283

that make up that system.

In addition to data collection, some witnesses raised concerns about access to police

data. The Committee heard that civilians and activists can only access police data by

requesting this information from the police agencies holding it and it is difficult to obtain

even when legislated to be provided.

284

Professor Samuels-Wortley expressed a need for

greater transparency from police services to document racism and evaluate responses,

noting:

We require improved race-based data collection, access and dissemination. We also

require a commitment to work with researchers, including researchers of colour, who

are willing to make critical inquiries into law enforcement practices. We can no longer

rely on researchers who just give police the answers they are looking for.

285

Some leaders in the policing community shared recent changes being made to ensure

the collection of race-based data to inform policy change. For example, Chief Nishan

Duraiappah shared with the Committee that he is putting in place structures for the

collection of race-based data to identify discriminatory practices in his policing

organization in order to dismantle them.

286

Chief Bryan Larkin recounted a commitment

by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to work with Statistics Canada to collect

data on Indigenous and ethno-cultural identity in police-reported crime statistics on

281

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1250 (Robert S. Wright).

282

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1525 (Akwasi Owusu-Bempah).

283

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 8, 23 July 2020, 1250 (Benson Cowan).

284

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, 1125 (Rick Parent).

285

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1710

(Kanika Samuels-Wortley).

286

SECU, Evidence, 1

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 12, 14 August 2020, 1210 (Chief Nishan Duraiappah).

victims and accused persons, including important context to “avoid stigmatizing

communities.”

287

Therefore, the Committee recommends:

Recommendation 41

That the Government of Canada ensure that a critical race analysis is applied to all

racially disaggregated police data collected to ensure that the manner in which it is used

does not further stigmatize or marginalize Indigenous and racialized people.

Recommendation 42

That the Government of Canada request that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police collect

and publicize national comprehensive and disaggregated race-based data covering police

interactions with the public.

2.11 The “Bastarache Report”

The Committee was powerfully impacted by the testimony of the Hon. Michel

Bastarache concerning his report Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of

Sexual Harassment on Women in the RCMP,

288

(the “Bastarache Report”) which

describes appalling acts and patterns of sexism, homophobia, and racism within the

RCMP. On December 7, 2020 the Committee adopted a motion to take the testimony of

the Hon. Michel Bastarache and the relevant sections of his report into consideration for

this study and to invite the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and

the Commissioner of the RCMP to appear in response to the report.

289

The Bastarache Report describes the evidence heard during the assessment of 3,086

claims of gender or sexual-orientation based discrimination concerning incidents

occurring while the claimant was employed by the RCMP. The conduct described

includes systemic patterns of discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation and

race, including workplace cultures characterized by misogyny, homophobia, and racism

and inter-personal violence, including sexual violence. It also describes structural

inequalities that prevented women and LGBTQ2S+ people from receiving promotion,

287

Ibid., 1220 (Chief Bryan Larkin).

288

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020.

289

SECU, Minutes of Proceedings, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, 7 December 2020.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

training and work assignments on an equal basis with other applicants and retribution

exacted for attempts to bring forward complaints or seek redress for discrimination. In a

great many cases the behaviour which was subject to complaints was not only

discriminatory but criminal, including sexual assaults and 131 cases of rape.

290

While

some of the conduct described was historical, having occurred between

16 September 1974 and 30 May 30 2017, the Hon. Michel Bastarache explained to the

Committee that some complainants had disclosed ongoing experiences of workplace

harassment within the RCMP despite changes made to address gender and sexual

orientation based harassment.

291

The Bastarache Report provides 52 recommendations

to address the problems identified during the claim assessment process.

The impact of the harassment, discrimination and violence against women and

LGBTQ2s+ people described in the Bastarache Report was profound. Some experienced

serious psychological injury, including post traumatic stress disorder, suicidality, harm to

their self-esteem and family life, loss of confidence and feelings of anger and

humiliation.

292

The Bastarache Report describes the compounded discrimination experienced by

Indigenous, racialized and LGBTQ2S+ RCMP members:

LGBTQ2S+ women or women of Indigenous or racialized heritage were often treated

even more poorly. They were subjected to discrimination and harassment because of

their sexual orientation or race as well as gender.

293

In his testimony before the Committee the Hon. Michel Bastarache described the

internal culture of the RCMP as “toxic,”

294

noting that while many claimants described

some good members of the RCMP, “they indicated that even these members often felt

compelled to accept the prevalent culture and remained silent in the face of

injustice.”

295

The Bastarache Report states:

What I learned in reviewing claims and speaking to claimants has led me to conclude

that the RCMP has a toxic culture which has proved intractable to change despite

290

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020, p. 48.

291

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 2 December 2020, 1610 (Hon. Michel Bastarache).

292

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020, pp. 28-31.

293

Ibid., p. 47.

294

SECU, Evidence, 2

Session, 43

Parliament, Meeting 10, 2 December 2020, 1610 (Hon. Michel Bastarache).

295

Ibid., 1620.

numerous reports and substantial litigation costs. This culture promotes, or at the very

least tolerates, misogynistic, racist and homophobic attitudes among many members of

the RCMP. Such attitudes cause harm and are inconsistent with the Charter values

of equality. They must not be allowed to persist.

296

In his report, the Hon. Michel Bastarache acknowledged that previous reports have

called for a fundamental restructuring of the RCMP. He expressed that:

I am of the view that cultural change is highly unlikely to come from within the RCMP. It

has had many years and many reports and recommendations and yet the unacceptable

behaviours continue to occur. Women who supported a fresh start were of the view

that they, as women, would be better accepted in a modern, federal policing

organization. It is my belief the time has come for the Government of Canada to ask

some hard questions about the structure and governance of federal policing.

297

The Bastarache Report documents disrespectful conduct at all levels of the RCMP

hierarchy and explains that despite several previous reports providing good

recommendations to address systemic problems within the RCMP, and despite changes

to policy and legislation that have been made, complainants expressed the view that

these changes had not been properly implemented and discretion was exercised to

override their intended aims.

298

As the report expresses: “Culture eats Policy

every time.”

299

The Bastarache Report describes recommendations made by some of the women

interviewed suggesting:

the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to study the options for the future

of the RCMP, including significant changes to its mandate, structure and governance,

and the option of establishing a new federal police agency.

300

The report calls on the federal government to consider establishing such an independent

commission of inquiry.

301

296

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment on

Women in the RCMP, 11 November 2020, p. 1.

297

Ibid., p. viii.

298

Ibid., p. 54.

299

Ibid.

300

Ibid., p. 58.

301

Ibid., p. 2.

SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

CONCLUSION

In light of the testimony and briefs received, the Committee recognizes that systemic

racism in policing in Canada is a real and pressing problem to be urgently addressed. As

many witnesses emphasized throughout this study, there have been many previous

studies undertaken and reports authored addressing various aspects of systemic racism

in Canadian policing over decades, yet many of the issues identified

and recommendations made previously have resulted in little change or responses that

have failed to remedy the disproportionate harms experienced by Indigenous and

racialized communities.

Through the provision of the recommendations listed herein, the Committee hopes to

propel the fundamental changes necessary to ensure all Canadians can equally benefit

from professional, respectful, and representative police services, free of racism and

other forms of discrimination.

APPENDIX A

LIST OF WITNESSES

The following table lists the witnesses who appeared before the committee at its

meetings related to this report. Transcripts of all public meetings related to this report

are available on the committee’s webpage for this study.

Organizations and Individuals

Date

Meeting

As an individual

Kent Roach, Professor

Faculty of Law, University of Toronto

Kanika Samuels-Wortley, Assistant Professor

Carleton University

2020/11/16

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada

Samantha Michaels, Senior Research and Policy Advisor

Gerri Sharpe, Vice-President

2020/11/16

Women of the Métis Nation - Les Femmes Michif

Otipemisiwak

Melanie Omeniho, President

2020/11/16

As an individual

Michèle Audette

2020/11/18

Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs

Secretariat

John G. Paul, Executive Director

2020/11/18

Center for Research-Action on Race Relations

Fo Niemi, Executive Director

2020/11/18

National Association of Friendship Centres

Jocelyn Formsma, Executive Director

Christopher Sheppard, Board President

2020/11/18

As an individual

Robyn Maynard, Author

2020/11/23

Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatawin

Mitch Bourbonniere, Community Activist

2020/11/23

Organizations and Individuals

Date

Meeting

As an individual

Alain Babineau, Consultant, Law Enforcement and Social

Justice Advocate

2020/12/07

Service de police de la Ville de Sherbrooke

Éric Roger, Sergeant

Mobile Psychosocial InterventionTeam

Patrick Roy, Inspector

Regional Surveillance Division

2020/12/07

APPENDIX B

LIST OF WITNESSES

The following table lists the witnesses who appeared before the committee at its

meetings related to this report. Transcripts of all public meetings related to this report

are available on the committee’s webpage for this study.

Parliament—1

Session

Organizations and Individuals

Date

Meeting

Correctional Service of Canada

Anne Kelly, Commissioner

2020/06/23

Department of Public Safety and Emergency

Preparedness

Hon. Bill Blair, C.P., M.P., Minister of Public Safety and

Emergency Preparedness

Monik Beauregard, Associate Deputy Minister

Julie Thompson, Director General, Corrections and Criminal

Justice Directorate

2020/06/23

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Dennis Daley, Assistant Commissioner

Contract and Indigenous Policing

Gail Johnson, Chief

Human Resources Officer

Brenda Lucki, Commissioner

2020/06/23

As an individual

Robert S. Wright, Social Worker and Sociologist

Hon. Vernon Darryl White, Senator

Conservative Party of Canada

2020/07/23

British Columbia Assembly of First Nations

Regional Chief Terry Teegee, Regional Chief of Assembly of

First Nations (British Columbia)

2020/07/23

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Natan Obed, President

2020/07/23

Organizations and Individuals

Date

Meeting

Legal Services Board of Nunavut

Benson Cowan, Chief Executive Officer

2020/07/23

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

Aluki Kotierk, President

2020/07/23

As an individual

Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, Assistant Professor

Department of Sociology, University of Toronto

2020/07/23

Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador

Chief Ghislain Picard

2020/07/23

Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario

Terry McCaffrey, President

and Chief of Police, Wikwemikong Tribal Police Service

2020/07/23

Kwanlin Dün First Nation

Chief Doris Bill

2020/07/23

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto

Dr. Jeffrey Schiffer, Executive Director

2020/07/23

Native Counselling Services of Alberta

Allen Benson, Chief Executive Officer

2020/07/23

As an individual

Christian Leuprecht, Professor

Department of Political Science, Royal Military College of

Canada

Rick Parent

2020/07/24

Canadian Police Association

Tom Stamatakis, President

2020/07/24

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson

2020/07/24

Edmonton Police Service

Dale McFee, Chief of Police

2020/07/24

Ottawa Police Service

Peter Sloly, Chief of Police

2020/07/24

Organizations and Individuals

Date

Meeting

As an individual

Myrna Lashley

Fabrice Vil

2020/07/24

Black Legal Action Centre

Ruth Goba, Executive Director

2020/07/24

First Nations Chiefs of Police Association

Dwayne Zacharie, President

2020/07/24

National Police Federation

Brian Sauvé, President

2020/07/24

Quebec Native Women Inc.

Viviane Michel, President

Léa Serier, Coordinator

Justice and Public Safety

2020/07/24

As an individual

Julian Falconer

2020/08/14

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police

Bryan Larkin, Chief of Police

Waterloo Regional Police Service and member of the Drug

Advisory Committee

2020/08/14

Native Women's Association of Canada

Steven Pink, Senior Legal Counsel

Lorraine Whitman, President

2020/08/14

Peel Regional Police

Nishan Duraiappah, Chief

2020/08/14

APPENDIX C

LIST OF BRIEFS

The following is an alphabetical list of organizations and individuals who submitted briefs

to the committee related to this report. For more information, please consult the

committee’s webpage for this study.

Assembly of First Nations

Axon

Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Congress of Aboriginal Peoples

Council of Canadian Academies

Falconers LLP

Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet

Human Rights Watch Canada

Leuprecht, Christian

National Police Federation

Nishnawbe Aski Nation

Ruddell, Rick

Sunchild, Eleanore

APPENDIX D

LIST OF BRIEFS

The following is an alphabetical list of organizations and individuals who submitted briefs

to the committee related to this report. For more information, please consult the

committee’s webpage for this study.

Parliament, 1

Session

Banwarie, Rae

Black Legal Action Centre

British Columbia Assembly of First Nations

Haggerty, Chad

Leuprecht, Christian

Native Child and Family Services of Toronto

REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a

comprehensive response to this Report.

A copy of the relevant Minutes of Proceedings (Meetings Nos. 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 22,

24, 25, 26, 27, 30) from the 43

Parliament, 2

Session and Meetings Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10,

11, 12 from the 43

Parliament, 1

Session is tabled.

Respectfully submitted,

Hon. John McKay

Chair

Supplemental Report

Canada is the most welcoming country on earth, accepting and affirming people of all

ethnicities, religious beliefs, and sexual orientations. Canada’s Conservatives are proud

of our country and we honour the men and women on whose shoulders this country has

been built.

But Canada is not perfect. Racism exists in Canada and it must be rooted out. Racism

must have no place in Canada, yet experiences clearly show systemic racism in the

criminal justice system that has led to biased outcomes. This erodes public confidence in

institutions like the justice system as well as places from the public service to corporate

Canada.

Systemic racism exists in the institutional legacy of a somber chapter in Canadian history

characterized by federal involvement in the tragedy of residential schools, forced

relocations, and a failure to respond adequately to cases of missing and murdered

Indigenous women and girls. One of the most recent examples of systemic racism is a

policy that led to racial profiling, which was designed and executed by Public Safety

Minister Bill Blair when he was the chief of the Toronto Police Services. This policy

disproportionally targeted black Canadians living in Ontario and subjected them to

arbitrary detention by the police. But despite his previous support for a systemically racist

policy, Bill Blair still has his job as Public Safety Minister because the Prime Minister

himself has engaged in what he acknowledges is racist behaviour, the wearing of

blackface.

Racism can also be found in institutional structures that fail to root out racist elements

within its ranks. It has left a continuing and understandable sense of distrust on the part

of Indigenous communities towards the RCMP and law enforcement more generally.

Professor Christian Leuprecht noted, “bureaucracies reproduce themselves; in the

process, they also reproduce their institutional culture and problems.”

The failures of an era in which racial and cultural biases were direct and intentional

aspects of policy may therefore continue to be reflected in the inadequacies of present

day structures and institutions in dealing with instances of individual racism that are now

widely recognized as being unacceptable and in need of redress. While it would be wrong

and inaccurate to describe the RCMP or all its individual officers as inherently racist or

holding racist beliefs, we must also recognize that a failure to respond effectively to

legitimate complaints or to adapt effectively to the needs and realities of Indigenous and

racialized communities has often led to biased outcomes at multiple levels. Witnesses

before the committee testified to the failings of the RCMP Commissioner in responding to

reports from the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) in a timely manner,

with delays ranging to over 3 years in some cases, to a lack of accountability in

SECU, Evidence, 1st Session, 43rd Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1415 (Chief Doris Bill); SECU, Evidence, 1st

Session, 43rd Parliament, Meeting 9, 23 July 2020, 1405 (Chief Ghislain Picard).

Leuprecht, Dr. C. (24 July 2020), “Submission RE: SECU hearings on Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada.”

implementing its recommendations.

They also repeatedly raised the need for greater

training in cultural sensitivity, communications and responsiveness to the needs of

particular communities. A notable example in this regard is the fact that only 5 of the 150

RCMP police officers in Nunavut are capable of speaking Inuktitut, a significant barrier

for victims seeking to report violence and obtain police protection.

Canada’s Conservatives are committed to working with communities and doing the hard

work of finding concrete solutions to these problems. We believe that the institutional

failings that have led to these outcomes can and must be urgently addressed. It is

imperative that we meet this challenge with practical policy changes that solve institutional

and systemic problems. However, the Conservative members of the House of Commons

Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security believe that a number of the

recommendations of the committee’s main report on Systemic Racism in policing do not

do so effectively or go beyond the scope of the study in service to ideological objectives

which we cannot endorse, notably with respect to the idea of “defunding” police and the

decriminalization of hard drugs. We are therefore opting to issue a brief supplemental

report to make some of our more significant differences of opinion clear.

Civilian Review and Complaints Commission

There is perhaps no clearer example of an institutional structure that fails Canadians than

a review system that fails to hold the RCMP and its members to account. Therefore, we

support recommendations ensuring greater responsiveness and accountability on the

part of the CRCC and publication of disciplinary decisions. Impartiality and respect for

Charter rights would require criminal actions by members of the RCMP to be dealt with

by the criminal justice system, through independent law enforcement review and the

appointment of a special, public prosecutor to whom complaints could be referred by the

CRCC for assessment.

General Oversight

The need for an independent oversight body – free of political interference – in the form

of a new RCMP Management Board distinct from the CRCC and existing management

advisory board was reiterated by several stakeholders throughout the committee’s study,

and is set forward in Recommendation 8. Because of the role the RCMP plays in

Canadian society, this type of oversight is needed urgently, and Conservative members

of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security encourage the Minister

of Public Safety to table corresponding legislation as soon as possible which Parliament

should review thoroughly.

The committee also heard from witnesses that local input into the oversight of policing is

critical for public trust in Canadian policing and the criminal justice system broadly. Local

SECU, Evidence, 1st Session, 43rd Parliament, Meeting 10, 24 July 2020, (Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson, Civilian

Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP).

SECU, Evidence, 2nd Session, 43rd Parliament, Meeting 6, 16 November 2020, 1715 (Gerri Sharpe).

oversight is likely to provide greater accountability of police to their communities and

identify unacceptable behaviour more effectively.

While an enhanced role for the national Civilian Complaints and Review Commission is

necessary it is not clear that it should become, as the report appears to suggest, the

primary or exclusive vehicle for addressing institutional practices that lead to biased or

discriminatory outcomes at either the national or local level when other structures may be

more appropriate. In many instances the report seems to conflate its role in responding

to complaints in a manner that can lead to disciplinary action and/or changes in policy

with exercising direct, continuing oversight and developing and implementing overall

policy. In our view, the CRCC cannot do both and retain its role and independence.

The role of the RCMP

Addressing disproportionate outcomes in law enforcement, and Canada’s criminal justice

system broadly, means addressing internal police issues, including police management

and leadership standards, worker safety, and police oversight. It also means addressing

Canada’s federal, provincial, and municipal policing structures. While Conservatives

believe that both cases of individual racism and structural failures leading to biased

outcomes must be denounced and dealt with, we do not subscribe to the ideological

narrative that holds that the RCMP and its officers form an inherently racist body that must

be dismantled, defunded and divorced from clear national standards of

practice. Addressing disproportionate outcomes in police enforcement, and Canada’s

criminal justice system broadly, means addressing the many contributing social

challenges such as poverty, addiction, mental health, lack of opportunity, historical

injustices, education, and general cultural awareness. The committee’s study and

subsequent report did not consider these issues.

Canada requires a strong and effective national law enforcement agency, and the need

to address racism in policing does not eliminate the need to deal with rising gang violence,

cyber-crime, illegal firearms trafficking and other criminality. Nor does it make it a realistic

prospect, even from a purely operational standpoint, to replace the RCMP as the primary

local law enforcement agency for large areas of Canada with a patchwork of new

community police forces. While some larger communities such as Surrey and Red Deer

are heading in that direction, and the Federal Government needs to uphold these

provincial decisions, it is far from clear that the many communities across Canada that

depend on RCMP contract policing, particularly in less populous rural and northern areas

would want to see it abandoned and replaced. Despite the more negative episodes of its

history and the need for change in the present, the RCMP remains a national institution

that has played a vital role in Canada’s development and the preservation of law and

order Canadians can continue to be proud of the institution, and support the officers that

serve their community with dignity and integrity.

Police recruitment and funding

The committee knows from reports by the RCMP, the federal government, and the

National Police Federation that the RCMP are short staffed in many parts of the country.

The RCMP continue annually to have fewer recruits entering the service than members

retiring. The committee’s studies on both the Merlo-Davidson Report and Rural Crime

further highlight the fact that unfilled police vacancies create additional stress and

pressures on officers and contribute to a deteriorating workplace environment, which has

a negative effect on the ability of RCMP officers to serve their local communities. This

cannot possibly lead to improved interactions between the RCMP and the communities

they serve.

Despite nearly $1 billion in additional spending per year, the federal government has

failed to address the recruitment shortfall in staff and RCMP officers. This has an acute

effect on rural and smaller community detachments in particular. Conservative members

of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security believe the federal

government must make increasing RCMP recruitment capacity a priority. If the RCMP is

unable to recruit and train enough staff to address attrition, it is unlikely to be able to

increase the diversity of its rank members as the report recommends. The government

cannot simply tell the RCMP to meet diversity targets when it is critically understaffed.

The “defunded”, community based patchwork RCMP the report recommends may be

even less likely to be able to meet its staffing needs and targets.

Training

Other recommendations, especially 36 and 40 suggest replacing national standards and

programs for the training and education of officers with local, community oriented

programs in which officers would be trained and according to the needs and cultures of

the communities they would serve. Paradoxically, recommendation 9 calls for the

establishment of a National Police College. From an operational standpoint these two

recommendations are in total contradiction and could never effectively coexist in practice.

A patchwork of community police services trained differently for local needs can’t apply

national standards. We believe that RCMP officers must continue to be trained according

to a single coherent national program and set of standards, with community specific

training to be provided subsequently. Such training should take into account the many

legitimate concerns the study has raised.

Use of Force

Recommendation 32 notably suggests setting out new standards for reasonable use of

force.

It is unclear, from testimony heard by this committee, whether it is the use of force

guidelines, or if it is the training and enforcement of currently in place use of force

guidelines, that is problematic and that is failing across the country.

Decriminalizing drugs

As with the recommendations aimed at defunding the police, we strongly disagree with

recommendations 24 and 25 which call for decriminalizing the possession of all illicit

drugs and offering pardons for individuals convicted of simple possession. These

recommendations represent an extreme, ideological approach out of step with those of

most other jurisdictions. It should, in any case, not be included in a report focused on

addressing racism in policing.

Internal Challenges to future legislation

Addressing disproportionate outcomes in police enforcement, and Canada’s criminal

justice system broadly, means addressing internal police issues, including police

management and leadership standards, worker safety, and police oversight. It also

means addressing Canada’s federal, provincial, and municipal policing structures.

Addressing internal police issues cannot be done without a comprehensive understanding

of current and future federal police frameworks. This requires full disclosure and access

to information from the federal government. Unfortunately, the Minister of Public Safety

and Emergency Preparedness has not been forthcoming on planned legislation,

regulations, spending, or timelines regarding Canadian policing. Notably, the Minister of

Public Safety has announced his intention to table an Indigenous Policing Act but declined

to provide a timeline or parameters for the legislation. Conservatives support the co-

development of this legislation with Indigenous communities, and would urge the

government to act quickly in this regard. However we would note that the committee’s

report has failed to provide clear guidance in this regard, particularly as to whether an

Indigenous policing program would be local or national in scope and whether it would be

funded through new investments or a reallocation of funding from the RCMP.

Conclusion

Addressing racism in Canadian policing is a challenge that requires the continuing efforts

of all members of the policing community, the criminal justice system, and leadership from

elected officials. Without clear leadership from the Prime Minister and the Minister of

Public Safety, any proposals put forward by the Standing Committee on Public Safety

and National Security – which lacks the authority to implement legislative, regulatory and

policy changes – will fail. Countless reports, expert witness testimony and our own history

has made it clear there must be clear leadership from the Prime Minister and Minister to

address challenges in the RCMP.

The committee’s report on systemic racism in policing notes many important issues within

the RCMP, and some of the recommendations the report provides could have a positive

impact on the performance of Canadian policing. However, there is a need for concerted

political leadership in addressing the larger public policy challenges related to policing -

this is a critical component in addressing these challenges. Identifying problems with

policing is important, but more important is identifying real solutions to stamp out racism,

increasing Indigenous and racialized Canadian participation, and regaining public trust.

Defunding or arbitrarily dismantling institutions is not a solution but is evidence of allowing

frustration to triumph over meaningful reform.

BLOC QUÉBÉCOIS SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT ON THE STUDY OF SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICING

IN CANADA

The Bloc Québécois would like to start by thanking all the witnesses and groups who participated

in this important study on discrimination by police forces. The Bloc Québécois agrees with most

of the recommendations in this report. It is important to us that significant action be taken by the

government so that everyone can live in a society where they feel safe and respected.

The murder of George Floyd, an African-American man from Minneapolis who was killed by a white

police officer on May 25, 2020, left a strong impression and put the spotlight back on the racial

tensions that exist in the United States. The reason this tragic event resonated around the world

is that many minority groups feel discriminated against by their government. There are plenty of

examples of this. The death of Chantel Moore, killed by a police officer who was simply conducting

a health check, brought to the forefront the pain experienced by Indigenous nations at the hands

of Canadian police forces. We were all shocked by the case of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous

woman who died in Joliette while being insulted by hospital staff who had no regard for her pain

and distress. More recently, the discovery of 215 bodies of Indigenous children at a residential

school site - children who had been forcibly taken from their families and placed in residential

schools dedicated to their assimilation - has shown the world the extent of the violence that

Indigenous people have suffered as a result of the colonial policies of the Canadian government,

and the extent of the wounds that continue to emerge today. We believe that Canada’s treatment

of First Nations and Inuit nations is the epitome of a racist system that discriminates against First

Nations. Use of the term “systemic racism” - to the extent that the system is designed to

discriminate against a group under racist premises - is therefore appropriate when discussing the

Canadian government’s treatment of Indigenous nations over time.

Despite the progress society has made over time to address discrimination and racism, all of these

tragedies remind us that we still have a long way to go before all people can live in a society free

from discrimination based on race, gender, language or ethnicity. This report by the Standing

Committee on Public Safety is one small step toward that goal. On 17 June, four members of the

Standing Committee on Public Safety, including the Bloc Québécois Public Safety Critic and Vice-

Chair of the Committee, signed and sent a letter to the Clerk of the Committee requesting that a

study be immediately initiated to examine the problems of racism and discrimination in policing

in Canada and to report back to the House of Commons. Although the study covers all police forces

in Canada, the focus is on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is under federal jurisdiction.

The Bloc Québécois also insisted, throughout this study, that the focus be on the Royal Canadian

Mounted Police since it is under federal jurisdiction. In addition, a comprehensive study conducted

by the Quebec government on discrimination against Indigenous people by Quebec police forces

has recently been completed. The Commission d’enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et

certains services publics : écoute, réconciliation et progrès - also known as the Viens Commission -

made nearly 100 recommendations to the Quebec government. Commissioner Jacques Viens was

categorical: “It seems impossible to deny that members of First Nations and Inuit are victims of

systemic discrimination in their relations with the public services that were the subject of the

inquiry.” It should also be noted that there is no consensus on what exactly “systemic racism” is

and that there are a multitude of definitions for this concept. In our opinion, some of these

definitions use circular reasoning and this has the effect of confusing and directing the debate,

which takes us away from the objective of moving from recommendations to action to stop racism

and its effects on different racialized communities. We believe it is important to move beyond this

semantic debate to focus on the victims of discrimination and find constructive and pragmatic

solutions.

The Bloc Québécois has been part of this study to ensure that the public is heard and that the

recommendations in this report are applied at the federal level to bring about real change.

However, we believe that it is important to add some clarifications to certain recommendations.

With this complementary report, we urge the federal government to respect provincial jurisdiction

and to encourage provincial initiatives rather than compete with them.

Recommendations

The Bloc Québécois would like to make clarifications and changes to the following

recommendations:

Recommendation 20

Mental health problems are the cause of a large proportion of police interventions across Canada

and Quebec. Since police officers are not experts in dealing with people with mental health

problems, avoidable escalation can occur depending on the approach of the police force. To more

effectively intervene and protect individuals with mental health problems, we must ensure that

they have access to adequate care. The Bloc Québécois agrees with the principle of this

recommendation but would like to point out that health falls under provincial jurisdiction and that

the federal government’s responsibility is limited to transferring money to the provinces without

conditions. It is the provinces that manage the hospitals and provide health care to the population,

and the federal government has no expertise in this area. The provinces have unanimously asked

for an increase in health transfers, which the federal government refuses to do, even though we

are in the midst of the worst public health crisis in a century. The pressures on the public

healthcare system due to federal underfunding are creating challenges that can only be met with

adequate funding.

Therefore, the Bloc Québécois believes that recommendation 20 should be written as follows to

respect the jurisdictions of the different levels of government:

That the Government of Canada increase health transfers to the provinces and territories

to cover 35% of the amounts spent on health by the provinces and territories, which will

allow them to put additional resources where they deem it appropriate, such as in mental

health support and intervention.

Recommendations 31 and 32

Data collection was one of the main recommendations of the racialized communities who came

to testify, and it is important that the report reflects their suggestion. It should be noted that the

Viens Commission report recommended that Quebec “incorporate ethno-cultural data collection

into the operation, reporting and decision making of public sector organizations.” The Bloc

Québécois agrees with the essence of recommendations 31 and 32 but believes that the federal

government’s efforts should not interfere with the work of the provinces and that the federal

government should not impose a policy on Quebec.

Therefore, the Bloc Québécois believes that recommendations 31 and 32 should be worded as

follows to respect the jurisdictions of the various levels of government:

That the Government of Canada require the RCMP to create a use of force database

disaggregated by race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, gender and other identities; to

collect this data regularly in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments that

may wish to participate; and to publish the data collected regularly.

Systemic Racism in Policing in Canada

Supplementary Report of the New Democratic Party

New Democrats fully support the recommendations contained in this report and reiterate that the

elimination of systemic racism and discrimination against Indigenous peoples by police and the justice

system should be considered as a key and fundamental precondition of reconciliation with Canada’s

Indigenous peoples. We also see the elimination of systemic racism and discrimination against Black and

racialized people in Canada in our police and justice system as a fundamental and essential requirement of

Canada’s commitment to human rights and equality. We recognize that systemic racism has so permeated

the policing, justice, and corrections systems in Canada that transformational change must not only take

place in policy and practice but also in the cultures of these institutions.

This study and report follow many substantive reports that have made significant recommendations

concerning systemic racism in policing in Canada. The report reiterates much of what has been said before

and offers additional recommendations. However, the transformational change that is needed can only

happen with the full and sustained support of the Prime Minister of Canada, Minister of Public Safety, and

the entire Government. Urgent, meaningful, and radical action is needed to address systemic racism in

Canada’s policing, justice, and corrections systems.

We offer the following additional comments and recommendations to supplement the report and to

further the goal of eliminating systemic racism in areas where stronger action is required.

1. We believe that recommendation 25, that the government offer criminal record pardons for the

simple possession of cannabis, will not be sufficient to end systemic discrimination in relation to

historical charges for simple possession of cannabis. It is well documented that Black and Indigenous

people in Canada have been disproportionately burdened with criminal records for possessing small

quantities of cannabis, which can have devastating impacts on an individual’s access to employment

and housing, and a lasting impact on their futures. These communities also disproportionately lack

access to the legal and administrative requirements to obtain relief, by way of a pardon or otherwise.

The current regime introduced by the previous government provides for record suspensions and not

pardons. So far, the administrative burden put on Canadians has resulted in only 395 record

suspensions for the possession of small quantities of cannabis since it was made legal in October 2018.

The Government of Canada should introduce measures to immediately and automatically expunge all

such criminal records of convictions and findings of guilt. The government must also ensure that

related records are removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) Database, which

would ensure that they are truly expunged and not available to police services and others with access

to the CPIC database.

2. Recommendation 8 calls for the RCMP to transition away from a paramilitary force into a civilian

police service model. This includes moving away from the chain of command hierarchy that reinforces

systemic racism and what the Bastarache Report

referred to as “a toxic culture” that tolerates

Hon. Michel Bastarache, Broken Dreams, Broken Lives: The Devastating Effects of Sexual Harassment of Women in

the RCMP. 11 Nov. 2020.

100

discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, and race, creating a workplace culture

characterized by misogyny, homophobia, racism and interpersonal violence, including sexual violence.

The RCMP Academy in Regina (Depot) is the training ground for this paramilitary culture and structure

and has a long history of inculcating a military mindset and culture into new recruits. As part of the

transformative work that needs to take place, the RCMP training model and the paramilitary culture of

the RCMP must receive a complete overhaul. This should include the closing of Depot and replacing it

with a National Police College concept with new leadership and an expanded mandate as described in

the Report. This college would ideally set a new national standard for bias-free professional police

training, which would include cultural competency and de-escalation training and be open and

accessible to diverse participants and other police services. This may or may not require relocating to

a new facility.

3. The Report makes several recommendations regarding Indigenous policing. Recommendation 9 calls

for consultation and negotiation with Indigenous communities to develop appropriate specialized

training rooted in cultural knowledge and history to support the development of Indigenous policing.

Should it be the wish of Indigenous leadership and communities that a separate Indigenous police

college be established parallel to the National Police College referenced above, the Government of

Canada should support such endeavor.

4. For many Black, Indigenous and racialized people in Canada, the police embody the systemic racism

that permeates the justice system and are seen as a threat. Yet across the country, many police

services insist that a police officer must be the first one to enter a unit when responding to a mental

health crisis or request for a wellness check, even when a mental health worker is available and there

is no known safety threat. This often further escalates the situation and has resulted in numerous

fatalities, severe injuries, and trauma. Mental health professionals must be empowered to be first

responders whenever possible, while still being appropriately supported by police.