Policing consultation participants stressed need for work to address anti-Indigenous bias
Patricia DeGuire, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), urged the Toronto Police Service (TPS) and the Toronto Police Service Board (TPSB) to accelerate efforts to combat anti-Black racism, finalize the implementation framework, and pursue systemic change.
The TPSB report titled “What We Heard, Insights Informing the Strategic Plan for Policing in Toronto” revealed that Black communities continued to raise concerns regarding racial profiling.
The TPSB report confirmed the need for immediate action, transparency, and accountability. In the OHRC’s news release, DeGuire acknowledged the progress achieved over the past two years.
The OHRC emphasized that Ontario’s Human Rights Code, 1990, which has primacy over all of Ontario’s provincial legislation, prohibited discrimination in policing, among other areas of service.
The OHRC affirmed its commitment to working alongside the TPS, the TPSB, and Black communities to fight anti-Black racism and attain real progress. The OHRC highlighted the need for community involvement to ensure transparency, accountability, and lasting change.
The OHRC previously launched an inquiry into the TPS through its authority under the Code to assist in identifying and eliminating discriminatory practices and anti-Black racism in policing, a problem that has existed for decades.
On Dec. 14, 2023, the OHRC published “From Impact to Action: Final report into anti-Black racism by the Toronto Police Service.”
“The findings of the inquiry were clear: Black people face systemic discrimination, racial profiling and anti-Black racism in policing,” DeGuire said in the OHRC’s news release.
The OHRC noted that systemic discrimination and racial profiling breach human rights and harm Black communities.
The OHRC’s 2023 report contained more than 100 recommendations to address systemic racial discrimination.
Specifically, the report asked the TPS and the TPSB to devote meaningful efforts to improve outcomes for Black communities. The report urged them to develop, alongside the OHRC, a legally enforceable framework for implementing the recommendations.
In policing consultations, the TPSB heard insights from over 1,200 community members, advocates, service providers, business leaders, and TPS members.
The TPSB report noted that TPS members called for leadership that listens, offers support, and shows integrity.
Meanwhile, communities wanted safety grounded in respect, fairness, and accountability. They highlighted the need for continuing efforts to tackle anti-Black and anti-Indigenous bias.
“We also heard about the deep wounds that remain - the legacy of systemic racism, a decade of austerity and cuts, and the real consequences of an organizational culture that has not always lived up to its highest ideals,” said Shelley Carroll, Toronto City councillor and TPSB chair, in the report.
The TPSB report noted that participants in the consultations deemed it necessary to rebuild trust within the TPS, as well as between police and the public. They sought lasting cultural change and genuine partnership, rather than symbolic gestures. They also called for:
According to the TPSB report, the insights from the consultations would inform its upcoming strategic plan for policing in Toronto, the first to be developed under Ontario’s Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019.
