TORONTO — A Muslim youth group leader says he was carded by police while collecting food for the needy with a group of Muslim high school students during the month of Ramadan in a Hamilton neighbourhood last year.
“It’s scary to think that young people who want to give back to their community are prevented from doing so out of fear that they might be stopped and questioned,” said Kamran Bhatti, of the North American Spiritual Revival. “He said, ‘Who are you? Let me see some ID.’ He took my ID, took my business card.”
Bhatti said he was told by the officers that they received complaints about a group of youth soliciting in the neighbourhood.
READ MORE: Toronto advocacy group calls for end to police carding ahead of public meeting
“It was intimidating. Here’s a police officer in uniform, there’s two of them, and they’re asking questions. Had I broken the law? I didn’t know,” said Bhatti.
“I’m born and raised in Canada, right here in Hamilton, and I don’t necessarily know what my rights are in that type of a moment, so I answered the questions.”
Hamilton City Councillor Matthew Green arranged a town hall meeting Tuesday night on the controversial practice of carding. It was well attended with many sharing their experiences.
“I fundamentally believe that policing in our communities will be the civil rights conversation of our generation and it’s very important for us to have the conversation now before we continue to allow these powers to be expanded.”
Carding has been the subject of heated debates across the province for some time and the government recently announced plans to regulate street checks. Naqvi said he’s been travelling across the province consulting with communities.
“I’m hearing a lot of experiences across the province and of course it’s troubling when you hear those types of instances,” he said.
READ MORE: Toronto police board approves older carding policy until provincial regulation
“We want to make sure interactions between police and the community are always respectful that people’s rights are always protected as enshrined in the Charter and the Ontario Human Rights Code.”
Hamilton’s Police Chief Glenn De Caire attended the town hall meeting and said he appreciated the opinions of residents.
“I commend our community for coming out to provide input on this very important issue. We are partners in public safety,” he said in a statement.
“This was a community forum where we were present to listen and understand perspectives that will help us better participate in the Ministry’s consultation.
“The Service does not train its members to participate in the random, indiscriminate stopping of persons based on race or any other prohibited ground for the purpose of identifying individuals.”
Bhatti said he believes they were stopped based on their appearance and that similar experiences only create a greater divide between police services and the community.
“One of the things we’re doing with these young people is trying to dissuade from going down a path toward radicalization,” he said.
“Some of the messaging you’ll see that organizations like ISIS, al-Qaida will send out is that ‘Your police force is against you, your government is against you, so come join us.’ So this type of a policy, this type of procedure only feeds into that narrative.”
Bhatti said they avoided that neighbourhood during Ramadan this year.
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