A Heiltsuk First Nation man and his granddaughter are renewing their push for police discipline nearly four years after they were publicly arrested while trying to open a bank account in Vancouver.
Maxwell Johnson and Tori-Anne, who was 12 years old at the time, were handcuffed at the Burrard Street Bank of Montreal on Dec. 20, 2019 after a BMO staffer called 911, suspecting them of presenting fraudulent Indian status cards.
The pair’s pursuit of justice and reconciliation has been ongoing ever since.
On Thursday, Johnson and Tori-Anne applied under B.C.’s Police Act for reconsideration of disciplinary measures imposed on the two Vancouver police constables who detained them that day.
While the constables told a retired judge who disciplined them that they were willing to apologize in person for their actions, neither attended a dedicated ceremony last October in the Heiltsuk home of Bella Bella.
Johnson said he feels his family, culture and community have been “disrespected.”
“Having them not come up here in the original apology feast that we had, it put a lot of stress on Tori, myself, my son, our whole community, our hereditary leaders,” he said.
“It just goes to show you that they don’t want to respect our culture and our ways of life.”
The apology ceremony was a key requirement of a human rights settlement between the Vancouver Police Board, Johnson and his family, the Heiltsuk First Nation and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs.
According to Vancouver Police Union president Ralph Kaisers, the two police constables involved in the incident apologized to Johnson and Tori-Anne at the scene in December, apologized again in writing, and intended to attend the apology ceremony. Only when it changed from an agreed-upon private meeting into a public event did they cancel, he said.
Nevertheless, Johnson and Tori-Anne are hoping the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) will still reconsider the discipline decision to require the constables to apologize in person.
Last spring, retired judge Brian Neal, acting as a discipline authority for the OPCC, found that constables Canon Wong and Mitchel Tong “recklessly used unnecessary force” when arresting Johnson and Tori-Anne, who “presented no risk to the safety of any person and provided no concern for flight and unpredictability.”
Wong and Tong were suspended for several days and ordered to complete immersive Indigenous cultural sensitivity training, retrain on de-escalation skills, risk assessment and power of arrest, as well as provide a written apology to Johnson and Tori-Anne. They were also required to offer to meet the pair in person to listen to their concerns and provide an oral apology “at a time and in a manner agreeable to the parties.”
In an emailed statement on Wednesday, Andrea Spindler, deputy police complaint commissioner at the OPCC, said it’s generally up to the chief constable of a municipal police force to “to take every reasonable step to ensure the imposed disciplinary or corrective measures are undertaken.”
She said the commissioner will carefully review the request from Johnson.
“We understand and appreciate the significant impact this incident has had on Mr. Maxwell and the Heiltsuk First Nation more generally,” Spindler wrote.
“As the OPCC is now seized with this request we are unable to provide further comment at this time.”
In its own statement, Vancouver Police Board vice-chair Faye Wightman said the application is now before the OPCC and “in order to protect the integrity of the OPCC’s process, it would be inappropriate to comment” on this story.
Thursday’s development comes more than a year after Johnson and Tori-Anne reached a settlement with BMO in relation to the incident, ending his legal action against the bank.
In addition to the lawsuit, Johnson had filed a complaint against the bank and Vancouver police with the BC Human Rights Tribunal and a complaint against the Vancouver Police Department with OPCC.
Heiltsuk Tribal Council Chief Marilyn Slett said it’s important the apology ceremony take place with the constables in keeping with Heiltsuk traditions and laws, bringing closure not only to their citizens, but police as well.
“We’ve carried out these ceremonies since time immemorial and it’s really important to our people,” she said. “We would like to see the constables do the right thing.”
Slett said the nation would like to contribute to anti-racist policy reform at the Vancouver Police Department — work that’s being stalled with the in-person apology in limbo.
Johnson and his granddaughters’ actions have already resulted in substantive change. They sparked national coverage, provoked a conversation on racial profiling, and last year, led to the first meaningful update in the Vancouver Police Department’s handcuffing policy since 2007.
The changes provide greater clarity on the conditions in which officers may handcuff civilians, particularly those belonging to an “equity deserving group.” They require handcuffing to be “objectively reasonable in all circumstances,” proportionate to risk, and necessary to fulfill a “legitimate policing objective.”
Officers must also aim to maintain “the dignity of the arrested” person wherever possible.
The province’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan commits it to development and implementing comprehensive policing reforms that address systemic biases and racism through an update to the Police Act, new mandatory training, enhanced oversight, and more.
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