June 29th, 2020
June 29th, 2020
QUEEN’S PARK – Kevin Yarde, NDP Critic for Community Safety and Correctional Services, says Doug Ford should implement Toronto City Council’s proposals immediately as first steps in an overall plan to address police violence and systemic racism.
“For far too long, Liberal and Conservative governments alike have passed the buck on addressing the pain of Black, Indigenous and racialized people in Ontario who face systemic racism daily – even as countless reports, studies, and recommendations have come from experts, affected communities and within their own governments. It’s well past time for the province to step up and actually address systemic racism in policing,” said Yarde.
Today, Toronto City Council passed a motion which, among other things, called on the province of Ontario to:
“The government should move on these initial measures immediately and we are prepared to pass legislation and do the work this summer to get it done,” said Yarde “To date, the Ford Government has consistently moved in the wrong direction on policing, from substantially weakening police oversight to cutting vital mental health funding. This has to change.”
Yarde emphasized that there was much more to do following these first steps, pointing to the Ontario NDP’s recently released commitment to action, End Police Violence: Invest in Black, Indigenous and Racialized People’s Lives. This includes an overhaul of police oversight, demilitarization of police forces, ensuring elected representatives have oversight on police budgets, an end to carding, as well as investments in alternative first responders and programs to address mental health, addictions, homelessness, and other issues of community health and wellbeing.