WATCH ABOVE: Toronto’s mayor has taken a hard stance on one of the most controversial police practices. John Tory says after failed attempts at reform, he wants to do away with carding and start with a clean slate. Cindy Pom reports.
Toronto’s mayor says he wants to end the practice of routinely and randomly stopping citizens in the streets to obtain personal information.
John Tory told a news conference on Sunday that he intends to go before Toronto’s police board on June 18 and call for so-called carding to be eliminated.
Critics of the practice have said it tends to disproportionately affect young black men and has led to distrust of police.
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The practice of carding was suspended in January by then police chief Bill Blair, but his successor Mark Saunders has defended carding as a valuable tool.
Carding hasn’t restored people’s faith in police and it’s time to start with a “clean slate,” Tory said.
“I thought that we had to turn the page and we had to start with a clean slate on this issue and that we were not making the progress that I thought we absolutely needed to make as a community to resolving what is a hurtful and difficult issue.”
Tory said he spoke to Saunders about his decision to come out against the practice of carding but would not comment further on the chief’s response.
Upon taking over as police chief last month, Saunders promised that police would work to improve their interactions with the public.
“Community policing is something that is here to stay and is a very good thing for Toronto,” Tory said.
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“I think what we have to put in place is something as I said that is both respectful of people’s rights, and that protects those rights, and at the same time allows police to carry out their very difficult responsibility and their very important responsibility.”
Ontario NDP deputy leader Jagmeet Singh told The Canadian Press from California that he welcomes Tory’s announcement to approach the board requesting a ban, but said the policy should be implemented province-wide.
“If we had a province-wide strategy this would address not only Toronto but other urban centres including Hamilton, Ottawa and Windsor where this also occurs and it’s also a troubling issue,” he said.
“So while this is encouraging for the citizens of Toronto, a lot of work still needs to be done to make this a province-wide strategy to ban the practice of carding.”
John Sewell, co-ordinator of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition, called the announcement “terrific” and says that he hopes police will go back to a policy where there must be a public safety reason for police stops.
Singh says one thing that is lost in the discussion is the type of effect carding has on local communities.
“What happens is when people are stopped in their own community it sends them a message that they don’t belong, and that has a devastating impact on their self confidence and their sense of self worth and it results in a less likelihood of that individual succeeding,” he said.
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