SECU Committee Report

Bloc Québécois supplementary report on the study of systemic racism in policing in Canada

The Bloc Québécois would like to start by thanking all the witnesses and groups who participated in this important study on discrimination by police forces. The Bloc Québécois agrees with most of the recommendations in this report. It is important to us that significant action be taken by the government so that everyone can live in a society where they feel safe and respected.

The murder of George Floyd, an African-American man from Minneapolis who was killed by a white police officer on May 25, 2020, left a strong impression and put the spotlight back on the racial tensions that exist in the United States. The reason this tragic event resonated around the world is that many minority groups feel discriminated against by their government. There are plenty of examples of this. The death of Chantel Moore, killed by a police officer who was simply conducting a health check, brought to the forefront the pain experienced by Indigenous nations at the hands of Canadian police forces. We were all shocked by the case of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who died in Joliette while being insulted by hospital staff who had no regard for her pain and distress. More recently, the discovery of 215 bodies of Indigenous children at a residential school site - children who had been forcibly taken from their families and placed in residential schools dedicated to their assimilation - has shown the world the extent of the violence that Indigenous people have suffered as a result of the colonial policies of the Canadian government, and the extent of the wounds that continue to emerge today. We believe that Canada’s treatment of First Nations and Inuit nations is the epitome of a racist system that discriminates against First Nations. Use of the term “systemic racism” - to the extent that the system is designed to discriminate against a group under racist premises - is therefore appropriate when discussing the Canadian government’s treatment of Indigenous nations over time.

Despite the progress society has made over time to address discrimination and racism, all of these tragedies remind us that we still have a long way to go before all people can live in a society free from discrimination based on race, gender, language or ethnicity. This report by the Standing Committee on Public Safety is one small step toward that goal. On 17 June, four members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety, including the Bloc Québécois Public Safety Critic and Vice-Chair of the Committee, signed and sent a letter to the Clerk of the Committee requesting that a study be immediately initiated to examine the problems of racism and discrimination in policing in Canada and to report back to the House of Commons. Although the study covers all police forces in Canada, the focus is on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is under federal jurisdiction.

The Bloc Québécois also insisted, throughout this study, that the focus be on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since it is under federal jurisdiction. In addition, a comprehensive study conducted by the Quebec government on discrimination against Indigenous people by Quebec police forces has recently been completed. The Commission d’enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services publics : écoute, réconciliation et progrès - also known as the Viens Commission - made nearly 100 recommendations to the Quebec government. Commissioner Jacques Viens was categorical: “It seems impossible to deny that members of First Nations and Inuit are victims of systemic discrimination in their relations with the public services that were the subject of the inquiry.” It should also be noted that there is no consensus on what exactly “systemic racism” is and that there are a multitude of definitions for this concept. In our opinion, some of these definitions use circular reasoning and this has the effect of confusing and directing the debate, which takes us away from the objective of moving from recommendations to action to stop racism and its effects on different racialized communities. We believe it is important to move beyond this semantic debate to focus on the victims of discrimination and find constructive and pragmatic solutions.

The Bloc Québécois has been part of this study to ensure that the public is heard and that the recommendations in this report are applied at the federal level to bring about real change. However, we believe that it is important to add some clarifications to certain recommendations. With this complementary report, we urge the federal government to respect provincial jurisdiction and to encourage provincial initiatives rather than compete with them.

Recommendations

The Bloc Québécois would like to make clarifications and changes to the following recommendations:

Recommendation 20

Mental health problems are the cause of a large proportion of police interventions across Canada and Quebec. Since police officers are not experts in dealing with people with mental health problems, avoidable escalation can occur depending on the approach of the police force. To more effectively intervene and protect individuals with mental health problems, we must ensure that they have access to adequate care. The Bloc Québécois agrees with the principle of this recommendation but would like to point out that health falls under provincial jurisdiction and that the federal government’s responsibility is limited to transferring money to the provinces without conditions. It is the provinces that manage the hospitals and provide health care to the population, and the federal government has no expertise in this area. The provinces have unanimously asked for an increase in health transfers, which the federal government refuses to do, even though we are in the midst of the worst public health crisis in a century. The pressures on the public healthcare system due to federal underfunding are creating challenges that can only be met with adequate funding.

Therefore, the Bloc Québécois believes that recommendation 20 should be written as follows to respect the jurisdictions of the different levels of government:

That the Government of Canada increase health transfers to the provinces and territories to cover 35% of the amounts spent on health by the provinces and territories, which will allow them to put additional resources where they deem it appropriate, such as in mental health support and intervention.

Recommendations 31 and 32

Data collection was one of the main recommendations of the racialized communities who came to testify, and it is important that the report reflects their suggestion. It should be noted that the Viens Commission report recommended that Quebec “incorporate ethno-cultural data collection into the operation, reporting and decision making of public sector organizations.” The Bloc Québécois agrees with the essence of recommendations 31 and 32 but believes that the federal government’s efforts should not interfere with the work of the provinces and that the federal government should not impose a policy on Quebec.

Therefore, the Bloc Québécois believes that recommendations 31 and 32 should be worded as follows to respect the jurisdictions of the various levels of government:

That the Government of Canada require the RCMP to create a use of force database disaggregated by race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, gender and other identities; to collect this data regularly in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments that may wish to participate; and to publish the data collected regularly.