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What happens when those sworn to serve and protect are instead the perpetrators of harm? For many communities, this nightmare has been a reality for countless decades. With recent traumatic events shining a light on the extent of systemic racial discrimination within police forces, the rooted cultural presumption that Canada is exempt from biased policing against black and Indigenous communities is a myth readily proven untrue.
Overview
In a growing number of countries, the phrase “Defund the Police” has embodied the theme of a movement, uniting diverse peoples toward a universal call-to-action to reduce the financial resources granted to the police. An integral part of this discussion is to chart where the money should be reinvested within our communities.
The panel will ambitiously take on a three-phased conversation on the intersections between government policy, policing and the criminal justice system, mental health, and education.
- The first phase, “Ideation,” will question the effectiveness of police in reducing crime and creating public safety, particularly considering the trauma and mental health issues that policing practices have caused.
- In the “Structural” phase, panelists investigate the aversion of Toronto government stakeholders in reducing the police budget, and how an attorney’s decades of experience in defending police violence victims offers insights in dismantling the legal labyrinth protecting policing institutions.
- Lastly, “Pathways” envisions how a meaningful reform of the Toronto Police Service takes shape in practice, and how mental health experts and social workers can replace police in crisis responses.
Run of Show
- 6:00 - 6:20 - Introduction
- 6:20 - 7:05 - Moderated Panel Discussion
- 7:05 - 7:55 - Audience Q&A
- 7:55 - 8:00 - Closing
Guest Speakers
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ModeratorGarvia Bailey
Garvia Bailey loves to tell stories, but her passion is in helping others share theirs. She’s most recently told the story of jazz and the colourful musicians who inhabit that world as host of Good Morning, Toronto on JazzFM.91—Jazz and the Arts. Previously, she spent ten years with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as an arts journalist/producer and broadcaster.
She began her career as a producer and writer for a groundbreaking startup media company, making independent documentaries from around the world. While with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she served as the host of a variety of radio programs, including Big City Small World and Canada Live; as a columnist for Metro Morning and as a contributor at cbcmusic.ca, CBC Television, as well as a producer on the documentary programs Out In the Open and Global Village and Tapestry. She has been tapped as a commentator on CBC’s flagship news program, The National.
Throughout her career in broadcasting she has turned the spotlight on emerging talent from across the GTA and has interviewed many celebrated international artists, including cultural pundit Roxane Gay, author Lawrence Hill, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, director John Singleton, actor Chris Tucker and jazz icon Tony Bennett among many others. Garvia brings wit, warmth and curiosity to her interviews, qualities that set her apart as an interviewer, broadcaster and onstage host. Garvia is currently working on her own major photo/storytelling exhibit with Toronto based Black Artist in Dialogue (BAND) and with multi-media production company, Pop Sandbox, telling the stories of Toronto neighbourhoods.
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Councillor Mike Layton
Mike Layton is the City Councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale. Councillor Layton has been a strong voice in Toronto’s fight against climate change, and champions the building of new affordable housing and investments in arts and culture. In the last budgetary hearing, Councillor Layton voted to reduce the budget for the Toronto Police Service. He serves as co-chair for the Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Committee, where he led efforts to declare 2014 the year of Truth and Reconciliation, the inclusion of the acknowledgement of traditional territory in City Council, the development of a Toronto Aboriginal employment strategy, and the establishment of an Indigenous Affairs Office. He is an alum of the University of Toronto, and is currently an adjunct professor in environmental studies and government at York University.
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Julian Falconer
Julian Falconer is a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada and an author, writing extensively on issues of race and civil liberties. His work focuses on state accountability and the relationship between Canadians and Indigenous nations. Mr. Falconer’s firm has counseled on prisoner rights, police accountability, and human rights. This work has included the representation of Maher Arar, the family of Ashley Smith, and Adam Nobody and the “Free Press Four,” all victims of unlawful police brutality and violence. Mr. Falconer is now focused with Indigenous-side representation on matters of child welfare, education, equitable service provision, and community governance. He holds a degree from the University of Toronto and has served as Counsel for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
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Dr. Suzanne Stewart
Dr. Suzanne Stewart is a member of the Yellowknife Dene First Nation and holds the Canada Research Chair in Aboriginal Homelessness and Life Transitions. A psychologist and Associate Professor of Indigenous Healing in Clinical and Counselling Psychology at the OISE/University of Toronto, she has been special advisor to the OISE Dean on Aboriginal education, and more recently, Interim Director of the Indigenous Education Initiative. Dr. Stewart’s research and teaching interests lie in Indigenous mental health as it relates to homelessness, identity and work-life development. She is one of the world’s leading scholars in Indigenous knowledge and mental health and is committed to advancing Indigenous healing issues through research and policy change.
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Dr. Julius Haag
Dr. Julius Haag is a scholar in policing, youth justice, racialization, ethnicity, and criminalization. His ongoing criminological research agenda employs qualitative methods in examining how young people navigate community-level violence and forms of hyper-surveillance by both peers and the police. Dr. Haag’s research interests related to teaching and learning focus on the experiences of racialized students with post-secondary education. In particular, his research has focused on the lived experiences of young people from the Afro-Caribbean community. He also studies the growing role of social media in both promulgating and intensifying real-world conflicts, and is currently involved in a collaborative study of young people’s experiences with gun violence in the Greater Toronto Area.