Bill No. 36 - Police Street Checks Act - Second Reading
MS. CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Madam Speaker, thank you to my colleagues who have spoken to this. I'd also like to thank the number of spectators in the west gallery who have come to witness this debate and to see us discuss this important bill in the Legislature.
Madam Speaker, it's a privilege to serve in this Assembly. I often think about the diversity of background and experience in this Chamber. We have people born to means and those born with no means. We have members with deep, strong roots in Nova Scotia and family members who have served in this Chamber, and others who are grateful to have made their way here at all to build a better life.
We also have many shared experiences. Many of us have children and young children at that. Many or most of us have had the benefit of higher education and, with the exception of the sometimes delightful and sometimes challenging interactions that go along with living a public life, most of us are able to live free from unwanted interference or threat.
It's unlikely that most of the members in this room look over their shoulders when they walk out of their doors in the morning or when they enter their vehicles or when they lock up after work or when they walk home from the grocery store. Sadly, this is the reality for the majority of the African Nova Scotian population in Nova Scotia. We know that one in three African Nova Scotians will be stopped by the police at some point. This is compared to a higher number but less than one in 10 Caucasian Nova Scotians, and that's simply not okay.
What happens when people are stopped for no legal reason? They may just have a chat with an officer and that should be encouraged. Those conversations should be encouraged, but the problem is that after this chat their data is recorded and it is saved in databases that can then be accessed by other law enforcement officers across provincial and even international borders. The existence of this information, even though it is there as a result of a random stop, increases suspicion in future encounters and may cause and has caused delays when crossing borders, results in differential treatment and generally creates a culture of fear and mistrust.
If a name is pulled from a law enforcement database and imagine, Madam Speaker, if you were a peace officer and you pulled a name from a database because you were checking because someone was crossing a border or on a traffic stop and a long string of interactions and information appeared, you would naturally have an assumption that there was something suspicious going on - why would this person have all of this information in a police database if there was nothing wrong? But you know what? They might just be Black. It might just be by dint of colour of the skin that they have when they were born. Again, that's not okay.
In my first term of law school, my instructor in criminal law was a former member of the RCMP. I'll never forget that in his introductory lecture, on the very first day, he spoke at length about policing. He spoke about how important the job was, how vital the job was to the functioning of our society and the respect in which we should hold that office. He also called upon us, as fledgling lawyers, to consider an intentional language choice. He asked that we always refer to officers, especially in court, as peace officers for that was the highest calling of law enforcement.
In calling on the government to end the practice of police street checks, we are most certainly not saying that police officers should not be in contact with the communities they serve, that in an effort to build trust and work as effective peace officers, we are encouraging them to continue to do just that, to engage and interact with communities as so many officers, especially community policing officers, already do. What is not necessary and what can lead to harm both to individuals and to relationships is for officers to record in databases every interaction that they have with someone when there is no reasonable suspicion to stop them. That data trail can cause serious damage to people's lives.
The bill we have put forward acknowledges that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms sets the standard for all interactions between government agencies and members of the public. It acknowledges that effective policing requires mutual trust between members of the public and peace officers, and our bill acknowledges the harmful, negative impact that racial profiling has on just that public trust in our justice system.
The bill we have put forward prohibits the collecting, releasing, or retaining of identifying information about an individual who has not been arrested or charged with an offence. The bill allows peace officers to interact with members of the public in the course of an investigation as long as that interaction is consensual. They can ask questions. They can engage with communities. They can canvass door-to-door. They can ask questions, but that interaction must be consensual and it must be perceived to be consensual.
The bill also requires the government to appoint a panel that includes at least one representative of the African Nova Scotian community to consult with the public and make recommendations about rules to govern the collection, release, and retention of identifying information about individuals who have not been arrested or charged.
The bill further calls for the destruction of all records of information collected through the process of street checks unless the panel opts to preserve the records for research purposes.
No person should be arbitrarily stopped. We recognize that and, clearly, given the data we have, these stops are not random or arbitrary. They are a product of systemic racism. Most of us assume that our interactions with law enforcement, short of detention or arrest, are consensual but, for racialized communities, this is often and even usually not the case. When a person is approached without any reasonable suspicion, they should feel free to leave the interaction and they should be informed that they are free to do that. Because people do not feel this way, they don't trust law enforcement, and a vicious cycle continues that has already been going on for far too long.
Police can and will be able to do their jobs with this legislation and they will continue to do them well. If there is reasonable suspicion of a crime, there is no impediment nor should there be to the detention of a person by law enforcement. I have the utmost respect for all of the people working in law enforcement in this province. As my colleagues have mentioned, it is a challenging profession, and I believe it is and can even more be a noble one. My interactions with the community policing officers in Dartmouth have been fantastic. They know the kids. They understand the communities and they do amazing work.
In putting forward this bill and calling for a moratorium on street checks, we are not being critical of the individuals who are out there doing this work. We are not talking about bad apples. We are identifying a long-, long-, long-standing systemic problem that requires a systemic solution. The role of government is to establish that balance between personal freedom and shared interest in safe communities. We are the ones who determine what is for the public good and we must act accordingly.
African Nova Scotians are overrepresented in our correctional facilities, have lower health indicators, and generally have had significantly more barriers to full participation in public life. Here is a big barrier and it is in our power to remove it. The debate over this issue in Ontario, where there is legislation, and here in Nova Scotia has had many legal experts weigh in. They have argued that this practice does violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the right to life, liberty, and security; the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure; the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned; the right, on arrest or detention, to be informed promptly of the reasons; and, most importantly, the right to equal benefit and protection of the law. These are the standards we expect to be upheld in all interactions between all levels of government.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms shouldn't need to wait for reports to come in to be protected. We want to be safe. We want law enforcement to have the tools they need to be the peace officers they were trained to be. We believe we can do this while respecting the freedom of all members of our communities and that we must do it now.