Wynne meets with Black Lives Matter protesters in front of legislature

TORONTO – Premier Kathleen Wynne told a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters who marched to the Ontario legislature Monday that fighting racism is a very important issue to her and she will set up a formal meeting with them.

The activists camped out in front of Toronto police headquarters for two weeks, with demands that include an overhaul of Ontario’s police watchdog and the release of the name of an officer who fatally shot a man last summer.

The Special Investigations Unit recently found that the officer who shot the hammer-wielding Andrew Loku did not exceed the range of justifiable force.

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The protesters marched to the legislature Monday, calling for the premier to come out and meet with them. Wynne, along with the attorney general, the minister of community safety and Culture Minister Michael Coteau, the head of a new anti-racism directorate – along with Wynne’s security detail – waded into the crowd of about 100 people and spoke with some of the organizers.

“In my heart I believe that we all need to work together to make sure that we get this right,” she said. “The reason I’m out here is I want you to understand that. So I am absolutely willing for us to have meetings.”

Wynne said the government is reviewing the SIU and all police oversight bodies, and she will need their input, as people “on the frontline.”

“I believe that we still have systemic racism in our society,” Wynne said, as the protesters pushed her to specify “anti-black racism.”

“If you look at my comments when we set up the anti-racism directorate, I specifically talked about anti-black racism. I specifically identified that as one of the issues that has not gone away and needs to be dealt with, so I’m not arguing that.”

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Last week members of the group went to Wynne’s home and left items on her driveway, including a wreath and an invitation to meet.

Janay Khan, one of the organizers who spoke with the premier Monday, called it a “step in the right direction.”

“I think it’s very difficult to say we were satisfied,” Khan said. “I think what it does is it suggests that mobilization and escalation is very important in order to get the platform that we require…in order to obtain transformative justice.”