There is a subtle, preconceived notion that Canada is more inclusive than our southern counterpart. Many figure that though there may be some semblance of systemic racism in Canadian policing, it is “not as bad as the U.S.”—thus, we are in the clear. But as a Black Canadian, I have observed that the pervasiveness of this belief—combined with Canada’s lack of initiative in collecting qualitative data related to police brutality—makes Canada just as bad as America.
After living in Canada for seven years, Mark James Heath, an African-American comedian, described racism between the countries perfectly on a CBC podcast, in which he compares racism in the U.S. and Canada to physical and psychological abuse.
The U.S. resembles physical abuse in that people see the scars, sympathise with the emotional trauma associated with it, and are often willing to do anything to help. On the other hand, Canada is like psychological abuse in that the emotional trauma and scars exist, but they are not visible and therefore not given as much attention.
Heath highlighted that just as emotional abuse is still abuse—racism, whether it is obvious or not, is still racism. Canada’s problem is not understanding this, and thinking that subversive racism is something to be proud of.
In order to alleviate this abuse, people must first be convinced that there is a systemic racism problem that needs to be addressed. However, doing so often proves to be more difficult in Canada than in the U.S., as it’s almost impossible to locate consistent data to support our reality, particularly as it pertains to police brutality.
The systemic nature of anti-Black racism in policing is so bad in Canada that, according to CTV, there is no official federal agency collecting or tracking Black individuals who have died at the hands of police. In their article, CTV explains the responsibility of tracking demographics regarding deaths at the hands of police is more of a provincial duty. However, not all provinces carry out these services.
Additionally, while some organizations conduct literature searches of news outlets in order to track police brutality, these numbers only constitute the portion of these injustices that go reported—which is likely far less than the actual number.
Without evidence to prove systemic racism within the country, Black Canadians are left either looking towards racialized situations in the U.S., or waiting for a situation to arise within the country to prove our point—oftentimes unsuccessfully.
It’s exhausting trying to inform others of the systemic racial issue within Canada, without having an answer to the question, “What is your proof?” Without data, all we have are our experiences, and that alone is not enough. For some, our experiences sound like nothing more than personal essays based on sensitivity or ‘looking too much into a situation.’
In an incredibly recent example, Justice Robert Kelly found Const. Daniel Montsion not guilty of manslaughter, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon in the death of Abdirahman Abdi.
In 2016, Const. Daniel Montsion arrived on scene to help Const. Dave Weir arrest Abdi. Moments after arriving, Montsion began punching Abdi in the head with reinforced gloves.
Although the court found Montsion’s actions were not the direct cause of Abdi’s death (despite autoposical evidence suggesting otherwise), there is one aspect of this case that should not be up for debate: Abdi’s death was the result of police violence.
Due to both Canada’s denial of its own faults, as well as a lack of hard evidence to convince skeptics, many viewed the ruling as an unfortunate blip in the system. Though thousands marched the streets of Ottawa in protest, not a single point was acknowledged by those who possess the power and privilege to do something about the injustice that was done to Abdi and his family.
As a race, we should not have to look to others to prove what is happening in our own backyard. However, there needs to be an understanding that just because you cross the border from the U.S to Canada (and vice versa), doesn’t mean Black history disappears with the individual.
I’m not saying statistics will solve Canada’s inability to acknowledge the mistreatment of Black people by law enforcement. But it would finally force doubters to face the reality of our abuse—convincing those who believe that just because hard numbers behind how often we are beaten or killed by police don’t exist, our experiences are up for debate.
But more importantly, this would be a significant move by Canada to commit to some substantial change, as it takes more than public sympathy from politicians to address fundamental issues of race and discrimination.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
