The two Vancouver police constables who were disciplined for wrongfully handcuffing a Heiltsuk grandfather and his granddaughter outside a Vancouver bank in 2019 will not be in Bella Bella Monday for the apology ceremony.
The two arresting officers, Const. Canon Wong and Const. Mitchell Tong, were invited to go to the apology ceremony as part of the settlement reached with Vancouver police earlier this year.
The Heiltsuk Nation said the apology ceremony was reworked as an uplifting ceremony instead.
“This behaviour demonstrates a further lack of respect for Indigenous cultural traditions, which was very disheartening considering the constables are supposed to be immersing themselves in cultural competency training,” Heilstsuk Elected Chief Marilyn Slett said.
“It also raises larger questions about systemic racism in policing.”
Maxwell Johnson, the grandfather who was detained with his granddaughter Tori-Anne, also expressed disappointment in the outcome.
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“It’s very disheartening to get the news the two officers can’t be here without any explanation,” he said.
“We can’t go full circle with our healing now because they chose not to show up. It would have been such an honour to have those police officers here to see this house, to see what we do and how we carry on our culture.”
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In a statement to Global News, Vancouver Police Board spokesperson Faye Wightman said “the Board is the respondent on the Human Rights Case, not the individual constables.
“It is important not to confuse the key elements of the settlement – and the difference between the holistic process of reconciliation on a systemic scale through the Human Rights Tribunal settlement, versus the independent discipline process involving the officers.”
Wightman said the Board is meeting the terms as defined in the Human Rights settlement in both the specifics and in the spirit of the agreement.
She said they are not able to speak to why the officers will not be in attendance Monday. “In keeping with the terms of the settlement we made our best efforts for the officers to attend,” she added.
Vancouver mayor-elect Ken Sim, who will become chair of the police board next month, sent out a statement saying he will be reaching out to Slett soon to open a line of dialogue on how to strengthen government-to-government protocols.
“ABC Vancouver is fully committed to supporting the inherent rights of all Indigenous people and affirms its support for UNDRIP and implementing TRC Calls to Action. ABC is committed to government-to-government dialogue with all First Nations,” Sim said.
The Heiltsuk say their customs do not allow for people to stand in the place of others, so an apology ceremony can’t take place unless the people who caused the harm are present.
Slett described the police board’s assertion that its presence in Bella Bella without the officers was sufficient as “short-sighted.”
“When a colonial institution seeks to reconcile, and to begin reconciliation together, it is a prerequisite they show respect for our customs and engage directly with our communities,” Slett said.
“This was meant to mark the beginning of a new relationship between Heiltsuk Nation, (the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs), and the Vancouver Police Board working together to address systemic racism in policing … The constables’ lack of willingness to walk alongside us and respect our traditions is a continuation of the discrimination that police have shown toward Indigenous people in the past.”
Maxwell Johnson and his granddaughter Tori-Anne reached a settlement with Vancouver police after their improper arrest outside a bank in Vancouver in 2019.
A Bank of Montreal employee called police under the mistaken assumption that Johnson and his then-12-year-old granddaughter’s Indian status cards were fake.
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