12-year-old's handcuffing continues history of Indigenous distrust in police: former child representative

An Indigenous girl who was wrongfully handcuffed outside a downtown Vancouver bank after trying to open an account could have a hard time trusting police and overcoming the trauma of the experience, says B.C.'s former child representative Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond.

Tori-Anne, 12, and her grandfather, Maxwell Johnson, were handcuffed and detained on Dec. 20, 2019, after a Bank of Montreal employee had difficulty validating their identification. 

"I try my hardest not to think about it," said Tori-Anne, whose last name CBC News has decided not to publish.

Turpel-Lafond, who is also the director of UBC's Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, said young people often say they don't want to think about something when what they mean is "I just want this to go away."

"She's at that stage where having her story shared is probably in and of itself traumatic and would invite a lot of attention," said Turpel-Lafond in an interview on CBC's The Early Edition Tuesday.  

Turpel-Lafond said she has seen a lot of cases where traumatic experiences, such as wrongful detention, prevent young people from trusting police, and the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls prove this pattern needs to be broken.

"Police need to be there to support young women and young girls throughout their lifespan," she said. "There is a strong correlation between exposure by young people, especially Indigenous young people and police, and difficulty.

"Young people need to be able to go into banks and have bank accounts and they need to feel comfortable in commercial spaces and not feel targeted."

Johnson said he and his granddaughter are now fearful of police and of banks, in particular the Bank of Montreal — even just driving past it, he said.

The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has ordered an investigation of police conduct at the bank. The Vancouver Police Department called the situation "regrettable".

"It's a terrible thing for anybody to go through," said VPD Chief Adam Palmer.

The incident has sparked intense backlash, protests outside the branch and condemnation from the mayor of Vancouver. The head of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs has also called on institutions to beware of racial profiling.

Cameron Fowler, president of North American personal and business banking at BMO Financial Group, apologized publicly 10 days after the incident.

"We have many tools and practices for validating identification," Fowler said. "In this case, we couldn't get the validation done and we overreacted and called police."

Both Johnson and his granddaughter live in the Heiltsuk community of Bella Bella, located on B.C's Central Coast. Turpel-Lafond said BMO chairman Robert Pritchard should travel to the community to sit down with the pair and apologize in person. 

"I think a real apology is different then sending a letter or making a phone call," said Turpel-Lafond. "Something short of that, from my assessment probably doesn't cut it."

To hear the complete interview with Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond on The Early Edition, tap the audio link below: