TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford says Canada doesn’t have the “systemic, deep roots” of racism that the United States does.
Ford was asked today to comment on the protests in cities across the U.S. that were sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Ford, who spent a lot of time in the U.S. for his family’s label business, said the difference between the two countries is that in Canada, people for the most part get along, working and shopping together.
GEORGE FLOYD: What we know about the arrest, video and investigation
He says comparing Canada and the U.S. is like “night and day,” and he hopes America can straighten out its problems.
Ford says he doesn’t have time to watch the news these days, but believes in peaceful protest, without getting “anarchy” involved.
The premier says he has zero tolerance for racism and has always stood up for the Black community.
Sané Dube, the policy and government relations lead for the Alliance for Healthier Communities, said Ford’s comments speak to concerns raised by Black communities across Canada.
“People hold up a mirror and say that it’s not the same as what’s happening at this States, but it is the same as what’s happening in the States,” she told Global News after hearing Ford’s comments.
“Part of what happens with the narrative that we create of what it is to be Canadian — to be polite, to be multicultural — because we tell ourselves that is what the story is to be Canadian that allows us to not look deeply at where there might be fractures and where people might actually be harmed.”
— With files from Nick Westoll
Comments