Carding, or street checks as they’re sometimes called, are the controversial practices by police forces in the province of Ontario, particularly in the larger cities, of stopping people and asking for identification and recording it.
The problem, is that it generally only happens to people of colour.
Desmond Cole, a black Toronto journalist wrote a cover story, titled ‘The Skin I’m In’ for the ‘Toronto Life‘ magazine. In it, he relayed his, and his family’s experience, of being stopped by police. Desmond Cole says he has been stopped over 50 times in Toronto and Kingston, where he attended Queen’s University.
Ontario’s Minister Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Yasir Naqvi, announced today that the provincial government will standardize carding as the protests against the practice are getting too big to ignore.
“The status quo in these cases is not acceptable and cannot continue,” said Naqvi. He said the Ontario government has “zero tolerance when it comes to any racial profiling and discrimination.”
He will not ban the practice, saying police must be able to investigate suspicious activity. But Naqvi said the new regulations will ensure there are clear and effective rules in place.
“Street checks is one of those fundamental issues that requires a single, clear standard throughout all the province.”
Naqvi said the government will coordinate with police forces, the Ontario Human Rights Commission, civil liberty advocates, community groups, legal organizations and the public to develop mandatory and enforceable regulations on street checks. He said these regulations will apply to all police forces in Ontario.
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