Mayor Karen Elliott has written a letter to the province, asking it to reimagine public safety and community health services and transform the way BC invests in public safety.
Elliott said the over-representation of black and indigenous peoples in fatal police encounters spoke loudly to the fact that systemic racism existed within the RCMP and police departments.
She also noted in her letter that more than 70% of victims of fatal police encounters had mental health or substance abuse issues.
“As a municipal government, we recognize that a simple call to defund the police is not a solution. In fact, if we reduce our local government’s police budget that money would not go to mental health and addictions services — as that is provincial jurisdiction — but rather to roads, sewers, and other programs within our own jurisdiction,” she wrote.
Elliott is calling upon the province to fund mobile mental health crisis units, training in systemic racism and the impacts of colonialism, improved diversity in the police force, and better support programs for youth and mental health in local communities.
“Community health and public safety are top priority goals for all levels of government and it will require an all-hands-on-deck, all-of-government approach to achieve the fundamental systems changes needed to realize equitable, inclusive and fair community health and public safety,” she says.
You can read the letter here.
I think that many people are jumping to conclusions about this issue of so-called systemic racism. No doubt racism exists but is it truly systemic? If commissioner Lucki thinks that the RCMP is guilty of systemic racism then she should resign and her post should be taken over by someone who will set and maintain decent standards of conduct.
I remember watching the so-called truth and reconciliation exercise, especially the fabulous wish list that some indigenous people presented for our government to carry out. Now we see Mayor Elliot presenting her list of dreams. Has she given any thought to how the cost of shutting down our country and provinces is bankrupting our governments? I wonder what the district’s balance sheet looks like just now.
Ways can be found to deal with systemic racism but the solution will require those in positions of power and responsibility to competently do their duty.