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Ontario MPP wants province to intervene in Toronto police 'carding'

It's a practice known as 'carding,' where officers approach people simply to record their personal information. Many were hoping the city's new police chief Mark Saunders would put and end to it, but so far that doesn't look likely. Jagmeet Singh says it's time for the province to step in.
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Ontario MPP Jagmeet Singh, left, wants to put an end to Toronto Police 'carding.' (Twitter/Canadian Press)
As It Happens7:05Ontario MPP wants province to intervene in Toronto police 'carding'

They aren't suspects in a crime, but many people on the streets of Toronto are still being stopped by police.

It's a practice known as "carding," where officers approach people simply to record their personal information. Many were hoping the city's new police chief Mark Saunders would put and end to it, but so far that doesn't look likely.

Jagmeet Singh says it's time for the province to step in. He's a Member of Provincial Parliament and the deputy leader of the Ontario NDP. He says he has been stopped by the Toronto Police 10 times.

"I'm sure looking diverse or standing out was certainly a part of why I was targeted," Singh tells As It Happens co-host Carol Off. "Much like the report that we've heard from the Law Union [of Ontario], people that are black and brown or racialized people are stopped far more often than other folks."

Singh is calling for a provincial strategy against carding, proposing legislation to prevent police across the province from detaining and stopping people arbitrarily.

Listen to our interview and here's what he said at the Ontario Legislature on May 26:

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