Click here to see the recent Statement by the All-Party Black Caucus (I signed to add my name as an ally).

I am saddened and angered by the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, among countless other black people in America. I am deeply aware that these racial inequities are not limited to our neighbours, but have manifest here within our borders. 

Black and Indigenous Lives Matter. My cabinet colleagues and I are deeply committed to highlighting and rooting out systemic inequities for Black, Indigenous, other people of colour and other marginalized communities. There is no place for systemic anti-black racism, police brutality in the USA or in Canada. The Prime Minister has publicly stated that he supports introducing body cameras to the RCMP. Additionally, Statistics Canada is now going to begin collecting race-based crime data.

Every Canadian is entitled to bias-free and culturally competent policing, and policing based solely on a person’s race or ethnicity is unacceptable and unlawful.  It is contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and our Liberal federal government remains firm: there is no place for racism or bias of any kind within police forces in Canada. We remain committed to working with all racialized people to ensure that our agencies serve without bias, and with a commitment to social justice for everyone.

Our government has promised to address systemic racism and injustice, and we’ve taken action:

• We invested in mental health resources and youth programs for Black Canadians.
• We worked to close the gaps in services for Indigenous communities.
• We funded Statistics Canada so they could create a Centre for Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistic hub.
• We are funding community organization capacity building in the Black communities across Canada.
• We signed on and committed to the United Nation’s International Decade for People of African Descent.
• This work culminated in the release of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy for 2019-2022, and the creation of an Anti-Racism Secretariat.

However, we also recognize that there’s a lot more work for us to do, and that we need to do much more. I am committed to supporting police reform across Canada.