Coalition Calls on Premier to Act on Racial Profiling Report
July 12, 2005
The Equity and Accountability Coalition calls on Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Attorney General Michael Bryant, and Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Monte Kwinter to meet with community groups, to address the findings of the Ontario Human Rights Commission 's (OHRC) report on the Racial Profiling Inquiry.
"We welcome the findings in this report, which should end the debate on whether racial profiling exists in this province. It is now time to act," said Debbie Douglas, Executive Director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI). "Our citizenship is diminished through racial profiling by institutions entrusted with public safety and security. IF we are to close this citizenship gap based on race and skin colour, swift action must be taken to respond to those concerns," she added.
Released yesterday, the report is an important addition to the considerable number of reports generated on racism and racial profiling. Many recommendations from the 1995 report of the Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System are yet to be implemented. The recent report of the National Forum on Policing, sponsored by Jean Augustine Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, also made recommendations to address racism and racial profiling, many of which are echoed in the newly released OHRC report.
While the documentation of the range of racial profiling experience is the report's strongest aspect, an effective response to the concerns requires a firm commitment from all levels of government. The Coalition expressed concern that any effort to implement recommendations from this and other reports will not succeed, unless backed by resources and political commitment to a process that will be effective in addressing racism and racial profiling. Such an effective response will require commitment from federal, provincial and municipal levels of government.
The Coalition also expressed disappointment that Chief Ban Algar, President of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, and Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino have chosen to dismiss the OHRC report, rather than taking advantage of this opportunity to work with community groups to root out racism from police services.
"By denying that racial profiling exists, Chief Fantino is in fact doing a disservice to those members of Toronto Police Services who want positive changes in the force in order to rebuild a sense of trust with the racialized communities in this province," said Avvy Go, Clinic Director, Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. "As racialized communities are now becoming the majority of this city's population, Chief Fantino is ill-advised to ignore these communities' concerns," added Go.