{"id":38896,"date":"2020-06-15T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/?p=38896"},"modified":"2020-11-26T09:27:26","modified_gmt":"2020-11-26T14:27:26","slug":"3-anti-racist-policies-that-should-be-part-of-the-covid-19-economic-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/canada\/en\/story\/38896\/3-anti-racist-policies-that-should-be-part-of-the-covid-19-economic-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"3 anti-racist policies that should be part of the COVID-19 economic recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n

Greenpeace is advocating for a green and just recovery from COVID-19. <\/p>\n\n

What does that mean? <\/p>\n\n

Well, as the federal government spends money and makes policies to help the economy deal with the pandemic, we\u2019re calling for that spending and those policies to focus  not only on a transition toward clean energy but to address long-standing and systemic inequality, too.<\/p>\n\n

And while we\u2019ve been meeting with politicians to advocate for equity-based solutions like a wealth tax, universal basic income, and respect for human rights, I know and feel that we need to do more to advocate for explicit, anti-racist solutions that will allow us  not just to \u201cbuild back better\u201d from COVID-19 but to build anew without white supremacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Without racial justice, there is no environmental justice, no climate justice, no justice period. <\/p>\n\n

Canada remains \u201ca place that struggles to contend with the harms of white supremacy and where legacies of colonization, slavery, structural inequality and systemic discrimination deeply impact the lives of Black people,\u201d wrote a coalition of advocates for Black health in a recent statement<\/a> last week, calling for anti-Black racism to be declared a public health crisis. It\u2019s a legacy that\u2019s been evident in the environmental racism<\/a> of energy, waste disposal and other toxic projects. And as the coalition further noted, it\u2019s a legacy that can\u2019t be separated from police-linked deaths of Black people.<\/p>\n\n

Indeed, the deaths of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, D’Andre Campbell, Chantel Moore during police-led mental health checks illustrate in no uncertain terms the insidious systemic racism impacting Black and Indigenous people in Canada, from access to services to policing.<\/p>\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/hello_sane\/status\/1271491914634854401?s=20\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n

It\u2019s not enough for politicians to wring their hands, shake their heads or tweet their grief. <\/strong><\/strong>No. Anti-racist policy proposals to tackle racism in the justice system and widespread systemic racial disparities have been on the table for years. <\/p>\n\n

Prime Minister Trudeau<\/a> and other politicians have vowed to make change. Yet, they remain hazy on specifics of how<\/em> … even as report after report collects dust on their shelves \u2014 from watchdog reports on racism in the prison system<\/a> to the non-existent action plan<\/a> on the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Meanwhile, billions of dollars have already been allotted<\/a> for businesses in recent COVID-19 stimulus plans announced by the Trudeau government.<\/p>\n\n

No more excuses. No more hollow promises.<\/p>\n\n

Starting right now, COVID-19 recovery plans can and should realize long overdue policy proposals put forward by Black communities, activists and experts.<\/strong> Doing so can spark a safer, healthier, anti-racist society. <\/p>\n\n

Here\u2019s a look at just 3 (of the many) options on the table<\/strong>, including defunding the police, investing in social programs and mental health, and free public transit.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

1. Defund the police<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

\u201cA budget is a statement of priorities,\u201d Black Lives Matter Toronto co-founder Sandy Hudson told The National Observer<\/em><\/a>. \u201c<\/em>Across North America, police budgets are often the number one thing that municipalities are spending on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\n
FIND YOUR CITY & TELL YOUR MAYOR TO DEFUND THE POLICE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

In Canada, we\u2019ve been educated to think that we need police, that it goes without saying for public safety. But, as Hudson notes, we need to rethink given how police have proved to be ill-equipped to deal with mental health emergencies. \u201cPolice don\u2019t actually provide a lot of safety for our community at all,\u201d she says. \u201cA lot of the police killings that happen in Canada in particular happen when someone is interacting with the police during a mental health crisis.\u201d Hudson (and other Black activists) propose that \u201cif police are not providing the service well, let\u2019s stop having police provide the service and create a service that does provide what we need properly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

According to Hudson, this could look like \u201ca civilian-based agency\u201d where responders are trained in social work and health \u2014 and won\u2019t show up with lethal force.<\/p>\n\n

Let\u2019s spend some more time on this because it\u2019s a new concept for a lot of people…<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

When we talk about defunding, we also need to talk about demilitarization. Black Lives Matter Vancouver states<\/a> that the \u201cThe Vancouver Police Department must demilitarise, and make a commitment to work towards officers not carrying firearms\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

Creeping militarization of police forces has long been a problem, gobbling up budgets and impacting racialized and mentally ill communities. For example, researchers have found<\/a> that the deployment of special weapons and tactics units (SWAT) teams in Canadian cities has risen about 2100% in nearly four decades. They found that SWAT teams are increasingly used for routine areas of policing (executing warrants, traffic enforcement, community policing and responding to mental health crises and domestic disturbances) and bring a paramilitary culture to the force.<\/p>\n\n

At the same time, tear gas (which has its roots in WWI and whose international use is restricted<\/a> under the Weapons Convention) is allowed for police force use and \u201criot control\u201d. Montreal police, for example, recently used<\/a> tear gas and pepper spray on Montreal protesters supporting Black lives.<\/p>\n\n

\n

Meet Hamilton police's $279K 'armoured rescue vehicle' http:\/\/t.co\/AVMUGHU4V4<\/a> #HamOnt<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wtEojdDRhM<\/a><\/p>— CBC Hamilton (@CBCHamilton) May 22, 2014<\/a><\/blockquote>