Singh removed from Commons after calling Bloc MP racist over blocked RCMP motion,
NDP leader ousted from Commons after exchange over motion on race
Ejected from the House of Commons after he refused to apologize for calling a fellow parliamentarian racist, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh stood by the accusation and said “anyone” who opposes action on systemic racism is themselves racist.
Singh’s comments came after an NDP motion to tackle systemic racism in the RCMP — a concern acknowledged by all parties in the House — was defeated when it failed to receive unanimous approval. Speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon, Singh said he made eye contact with Bloc Québécois MP Alain Therrien as the Bloc MP called out his opposition to the NDP motion. Singh said he grew angry when Therrien gestured dismissively, but stood by his accusation that “anyone” who opposed action to diminish systemic racism is racist.
In a written statement, the Bloc said it supports an examination of systemic racism in the RCMP, but does not want to draw conclusions about what should be done to address it before a parliamentary committee can study the issue. The Bloc also called on Singh to apologize.
Singh had asked the Commons to recognize there is systemic racism in the RCMP and to call on the government to review the police force’s budget, ensure the Mounties are truly accountable, examine the Mounties’ use of force and boost non-police spending on mental-health and addiction support.
The Speaker asked Singh to apologize for calling Therrien racist, but the NDP leader refused.
Singh did not back down when asked about the incident later. “We had a motion to call out the systemic racism in the RCMP and provide some really clear steps to stop it in the future,” Singh said. “Anyone who wants to vote against that is a racist, yes.”
Singh said “we’ve got some problems” if the House cannot agree to straightforward steps at a time when the public is decrying police brutality against Indigenous and Black people. Singh, the first racialized leader of a federal political party in Canada, also said marginalized communities are often told they are not taking the right approach to fighting racism.
“You’re facing inequality and injustice, people are being killed, people are being the subject of violence, but you’re not asking the right way for us to change it,” he said. “And to me, that’s an absurd argument to put forward.”
The parliamentary dust-up followed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s acknowledgment Wednesday that existing systems have failed to adequately address concerns about police behaviour, including in the Mounties. Asked about the fact it often takes years for the RCMP to act on recommendations from the force’s civilian watchdog, Trudeau said: “We are going to move much quicker on responding to these things, on making changes to our institutions, to really go after systemic discrimination.”
The Green party’s Elizabeth May wants a full inquiry into the RCMP, saying the national police force’s culture of unaccountability must be put under a microscope. May, the party’s parliamentary leader, rhymed off a list of questions Wednesday morning about RCMP conduct, from deadly confrontations with Indigenous people to slow responses to formal recommendations.
But May told a media briefing the force acts as if it’s above the law in a way that goes beyond any one incident or report.
“The RCMP clearly sees itself as unaccountable,” she said. “One or two tweaking measures around the margins won’t make the difference.”
At his own briefing Wednesday, hours before the sitting in the Commons, Singh also urged more transparency and accountability from the RCMP and other forces. In particular, Singh said there needs to be improved scrutiny of public complaints about incidents involving police.
“We found that throughout Canada, this is an ongoing concern, that the investigations are not conducted in a way where people are left feeling satisfied that it was thorough and that it was independent.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Lillian Dyck called for RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to resign for failing to understand systemic racism. Lucki recently stopped short of acknowledging there is entrenched racism in the RCMP, only to agree days later it does exist.
May suggested the RCMP’s problems cannot be remedied by a simple change at the top. She said Lucki could take positive steps now by acting on recommendations from longstanding reports about the policing of Indigenous Peoples.