Singh urges Trudeau to address systemic racism in police forces
NDP Leader called Rideau Hall incident ‘domestic terrorism’
If the Rideau Hall intruder had been a person of colour, the outcome of last week’s events in Ottawa would have been very different, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday.
Singh, speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill, said that incident, contrasted with others in recent weeks when police in Canada killed Indigenous people and people of colour during visits to check on their welfare, “reminds us all of how systemic racism is real.”
Military reservist and Manitoba businessperson Corey Hurren is in an Ottawa jail facing 22 charges for allegedly carrying weapons and making a threat against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Police say they spoke to Hurren,
who was still carrying at least one gun, for an hour and 42 minutes before he was arrested without anyone getting hurt.
Singh said he is thankful for the safety of Trudeau and his family and said he sees the event as an episode of “domestic terrorism.”
And when asked if he thought there would not have been a peaceful end to the event if the suspect had been a person of colour, Singh said simply, “Yes.”