July 19th, 2018

Minister continues to malign Black neighborhood in response to carding questions

Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath criticized the Minister of Public Safety and Corrections for suggesting that the Jane and Finch community is the justification for carding.

While carding continues on Ontario’s streets, the Ford PCs continue to respond to questions about that with justifications — stigmatizing a predominantly Black community as unsafe and saying a bullet-proof vest is necessary to visit.

“Yesterday, we asked the minister whether he will allow even more carding to take place, instead of doing the right thing and stamping out carding once and for all. In response, he stigmatized an entire community,” said Horwath during question period on Thursday.

“He used awful stereotypes to describe that community, and he made comments that were deeply offensive to many people. Will the minister apologize to racialized Ontarians for his racist remarks?”

Carding is also called street checks - a practice Minister Tibollo said yesterday made communities safer.

“It is unacceptable for the minister to care so little about the discriminatory, unconstitutional, and ongoing use of carding in our communities,” said Horwath.

“How can this minister honestly want to allow more carding on our streets, when he should be stamping it out for good? How can this Minister think that Ontario needs more carding and more arbitrary police street checks, when people have been saying the exact opposite for years?”