Tory’s reversal on carding lauded
Re Tory’s rejection of carding a citywide game
changer, June 10 Mayor John Tory didn’t have to take a strong stand on the “carding” issue, which affects the most marginalized of our society, especially considering the direction of national security policy from the Harper government.
As a visible minority, maybe less likely to get carded but having experienced “random security checks” in other circumstances, I am tired of being racially/ religiously systematically profiled. I recognize the important job of the police in maintaining safe communities, but clearly the power needs to be balanced before innocent lives are lost as we have seen in U.S. cities like Ferguson.
When an entire segment of our society loses trust in the force that is meant to maintain safety and security, we need to begin to question the current policy.
Black Lives Matter and Toronto being the multicultural centre of Canada should be a beacon for effective evidence-based public policy that ensures mutual respect and safety of our police force and our citizens. Thanks, Mr. Tory, for not bending to the pressure of the powerful over the powerless. Dr. Sarah Khan, Oakville I am pleased that Mayor Tory finally has succumbed to political (not public) pressure to call for cancelling carding. I also agree with Councillor Michael Thompson that this hardly means that the practice will stop; we saw the Toronto Police “Service” refuse to obey the direction of its board last year.
The problems with carding go beyond the serious problem of obvious racial profiling. It appears that no one has seen the 1984 aspect to the practice. The state in the guise of the police are building a database on the residents of this city. Thomas Kane, Toronto Judith Timson’s support for Mayor Tory’s call for ending carding, because of the authentic voice of Desmond Cole, a black man who was stopped 50 times by police for no good reason, struck a deep chord in me.
My family, along with all of the other Japanese Canadians who lived on the West Coast during the Second World War, were fingerprinted, forced to carry identification cards at all times and were finally forcibly removed from our home, stripped of all property and belongings and relocated either to internment camps where men were separated from women or to hard labour on prairie sugar beet farms. Just for being born of Japanese origin.
They said, like the police of today, they were “protecting” the people of Canada. Even though this happened over 70 years ago, it has had a profound impact on my life and I still feel I am a stranger in my own country.
This kind of atrocity can begin with carding, inflicted on innocent people who have done nothing more than to be born in a minority colour or race. Like those in power 70 years ago, politicians can seemingly justify intimidating people who have done no wrong. What happened to the entire population of my people can happen so easily today and can be forgotten just as easily as our story has been forgotten.
Indiscriminate carding by police can lead to a whole host of appalling wrongs inflicted on the innocent, from police checks for teachers, coaches and social workers to specifically targeted groups of people. In time, what will happen to our rights as citizens of Canada? Lillian Michiko Blakey, Newmarket, Ont. Thank you, John Tory, for showing some sanity in the city’s public affairs. We haven’t seen sanity in this city for a long time. With a return to public sanity like this, maybe there’s hope for Toronto after all. Good luck with solving the rest of Toronto’s problems. Max Moore, Toronto I applaud John Tory for doing the right thing when it comes to carding, after he studied the issue from all sides and spoke to people who had been impacted by the practice over the years.
It took insight, humanity and courage for him to reverse his initial stand on carding and now deciding to see it abolished. Bravo, John Tory! Sheila Jacobson, Brampton Police claim that carding allows them to get to interact with and know residents. If they truly want to interact with residents, they should give up their fast cars and walk the beat. It is vital that the residents also get to know the police. Howard Wilson, Toronto Kudos to Royson James for his reporting on the issue of carding, including his column on the news conference by Toronto’s “who’s who.” Perhaps with this persistent insistence John Tory and police Chief Mark Saunders will finally relent and bring an end to the unlawful and embarrassing carding tactics of the Toronto police. Rosemary Frei, Toronto It is interesting to note the group of Toronto worthies who rushed to record for the public their opposition to Mayor Tory’s support of carding and his stance on the Gardiner. Where were they when Mayor Rob Ford was making a global laughingstock of their city? Anne Lamek, Alliston, Ont. Re Neighbours divided over police role in New
market black bear shooting, June 2 Rumour has it that police first tried to card the bear but it objected to the process. That, combined with the fact that it was uppity, black, unarmed and running away, they shot and killed it, of course. Allan Bowman, East Gwillimbury, Ont.