“Queer and trans youth understand that reporting sexualized violence is not a safe option for them because they feel, and rightfully so, that they will not be believed and that their cases will not be understood within the current legal system.” Carmel Farahbakhsh of the Youth Project addresses the Subcommittee to Define Defunding the Police.

Martha Paynter in her submission to the Define Defunding the Police working group on behalf of Wellness Within: “Defunding requires changing how we think about security. It means removing these responsibilities from police and returning them to government and community resources offered by individuals trained in supporting our most vulnerable. Defunding should respond to the needs of the community and could look like support for local safe injection sites, sobering centres, restorative justice programs, and mental health crisis teams.”

Yesterday afternoon Dr. Jamie Livingston presented to the members of the Subcommittee to Define Defunding the Police. ” I believe that the majority of crisis calls in Halifax can and should be diverted to non-police-involved teams, ideally led by trained peer support workers since health professionals possess coercive powers that may replicate police-like approaches.”

On Oct. 13 last year RCMP officers stood by as 200 people interfered with Mi’kmaw fisherfolk. That mob was 200 individuals that did not appear out of thin fog. They ate their supper, put on their coats and boots and no one stopped them at the door. Fathers didn’t stop their foolish sons. Mothers turned the other way and sisters nodded to get approval. Church leaders knew. Teachers knew. Neighbors turned on neighbors whose histories are still as tangled as the fishing twine of the sinking lobster traps.

Knee on the neck, the move used to murder George Floyd, is a frequently used policing technique in Canada as well, writes Judy Haiven. In the first three months of 2021, RCMP officers used the knee-to-neck hold (officially) 26 times!