Communities have been speaking out for decades about how Black people experience policing in Canada. It’s time to listen: racism is not up for debate – it’s systemic.
Amnesty International unequivocally supports frontline groups and activists in communities across the country who work courageously and tirelessly to expose that systemic racism and demand justice for the growing number of BIPOC who have been wrongly arrested, mistreated or killed by police across Canada.
A Comprehensive reform agenda should:
- ban the practices of carding, street checks, and racial profiling by police,
- overhaul the approach to wellness checks,
- refrain from additional funding for law enforcement,
- consider significant reductions in spending on policing,
- curtail militarization of police forces,
- discontinue programs that put police in schools, ban the use of facial recognition technology by police for mass surveillance,
- address the intersectionality that exists in policing Black women and Black trans individuals,
- comprehensively overhaul police oversight,
- and end all other harmful and racist policies and practices.
TAKE ACTION
Add your name to the online petition urging Premiers to support new, transformative approaches to upholding public safety and share on social media.
Your can write a personal letter to your Premier using the online action a guide. Find your Premier’s address here.
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO
TOP READS
Black and Indigenous Solidarity Against Systemic Racism
More than 50 years since police killing of Fred Hampton: Anti-Black racism remains deeply rooted in the United States and Canada
LEARN MORE
- Not just in the US: Amnesty International Canada strongly condemns anti-Black racism
- Amnesty International open letter urges federal government to address anti-Black racism
- Ending anti-Black racism: Sympathy and outrage are not enough
- Five reasons why Canada should put an end to carding
- Carding and anti-Black racism in Canada
- Over 70 Organizations Call for a Ban on Police Street Checks (BCCLA joint letter)
- Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-2022
- Read about police brutality as an international issue
- Take AIUSA’s online course on Police and Use of Force
RELATED WORK ON THE USA
On August 7, the New York Police Department (NYPD) brought dozens of officers, a helicopter, riot police, and police dogs in a five-hour-long attempt to arrest Derrick Ingram, a prominent organizer of Black Lives Matter actions. They did not have a warrant. Amnesty is demanding an investigation into the harassment of this human rights defender. Add your voice to Amnesty’s call here.
