Torontonians weigh in on police reform amid further protests
CBC News | Posted: July 16, 2020 11:00 AM | Last Updated: July 16, 2020
City council voted against motion to cut police budget last month
Torontonians weighed in on the final day of public consultations about police reform in the city Thursday, while protesters took to the streets demanding that the force be defunded.
The Toronto Police Services Board's fourth and final meeting on "police accountability, reform and community safety priorities" began this morning, while dozens of demonstrators gathered outside of police headquarters.
Representatives from a group called the No Pride in Policing Coalition (NPPC) who organized the protest, spoke outside of the building to a large crowd.
The NPPC describes itself online as a group of queer and transgender people that was formed in 2018 to support demands that Black Lives Matter Toronto raised at the 2016 Pride Toronto parade.
"We have lots of reasons to be angry here today. We also have reasons to be hopeful," said Gary Kinsman, a member of the group.
"The protests that have happened around the world against anti-black racism and against police violence and murder has given us hope that we can actually build a world without the police that is defined by justice and meeting people's needs."
In addition to protestors asking for Toronto police to be defunded, the group made a list of demands, some of them include:
- Defunding the RCMP
- Repealing criminal code sections allowing police to use deadly force
- Removing special constables and TTC fare inspectors
- Ending anti-trans violence
- Ending ineffective "pro-police" oversight
Other groups who attended the demonstration and spoke were representatives of Indigenous Youth Camp, Black Lives Matter TO, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Doctors for Defunding the Police, Not Another Black Life and AI Rising.
The conversation around defunding police has been prominent in cities across North America in recent weeks, including Toronto.
In June Coun. Josh Matlow filed a motion that called for a cut of at least 10 per cent of the police budget for 2021 and a reallocation of the savings toward community services.
City council voted against a cut to the force's budget, but proposed a series of changes to policing including anti-racism measures and the implementation of body cameras.
But the NPPC says that doesn't go nearly far enough.
They advocate against body cameras for officers and are also calling for the force's budget to be cut by 50 per cent, with the money going toward community programs.
Police response to public calls for change
At a press conference in June, Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders was asked about growing calls for police to be removed from responding to mental health calls and the idea of defunding the police.
Saunders told reporters there are a lot of conversations to be had and legal hurdles to overcome before any changes are made.
"Right now, there are a lot of things that need to be done first in order to start reducing what our roles and responsibilities need to be," Saunders said.
"I'd rather have the sit down and all educate ourselves a little more on what we do and what the public wants done."
He later noted that Toronto already has fewer police officers per 100,000 residents than many other large cities, including Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.