UPDATE: November 30, 2020

We are concerned about the inconsistency between the City of Hamilton’s earlier messaging and today’s actions with respect to the peaceful protest on the City Hall forecourt. On Friday a bylaw officer was recorded stating that protesters could remain and now several have been issued Trespass to Property orders. It is additionally disappointing that the City has elected to take these extreme measures without any meaningful dialogue with protesters about the policing and affordable housing issues raised

November 25, 2020

Hamilton is in the midst of a full blown housing crisis. It has been compounded by the pandemic that has exposed long-standing social inequities. Vulnerable and marginalized individuals and communities are bearing the brunt of rising rents, dwindling stock and low vacancy rates, as well as COVID-19.

Housing is a human right and it is the linchpin social determinant of health. There is an urgent need for the provision of affordable housing. In these desperate times, citizens of this community are taking extraordinary measures to bring attention to this emergency.

We stand in solidarity with the peaceful, impassioned protesters in the forecourt of City Hall. They deserve our respect and to be heard. We call for an immediate dialogue about a collaborative plan to address this crisis as a City and in conjunction with the provincial and federal governments.

We are concerned that an intentional protest not be mischaracterized as an encampment.  The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms encourages all of us to assemble and express our views. We are particularly alarmed that a protest organizer has been ticketed and faces a $10,000 fine for event participants breaching COVID-19 measures while exercising a constitutional right. At a time when a Toronto restaurant owner’s actions to flagrantly breach lockdown restrictions result in minimal, the crackdown on a young, Black woman speaks to an oppressive double standard that our democratic society cannot tolerate.

We urge caution and cool heads. We call upon institutional leaders to recognize and respect the protest for what it is and enter into immediate dialogue.

Together We Rise – S’Élever Ensemble fully endorses the statement and demands by the Black Legal Action Center (BLAC) on Policing and Anti-Black Racism. We stand in solidarity with all agencies working towards ending Anti-Black Racism in our communities and institutions. Furthermore, we endorse the recommendations made to the Province of Ontario in the statement by BLAC, namely:

• A clear and public commitment to zero deaths by police services across the province;

• An immediate reallocation of resources away from police budgets across the province into public health, housing, transit, children’s services, mental health resources, schools, employment, community centres and other social services budgets;

• Complete transparency of police budgets across the province;

• A reallocation of resources, funding and responsibility away from police and toward community-based models of safety, support, and prevention to ensure that those who are best equipped to deal with the majority of calls for assistance will not show up to people’s homes and neighbourhoods with uniforms, guns and Tasers;

• The end of policing of public transportation across the province;

• The removal of police and school resource officers from all educational institutions across the province;

• The complete elimination of carding/street checks and the destruction of historic carding data;

• The overhaul of police oversight by the immediate implementation of the Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review (2017) and the repealing of the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act, 2019;

• The adoption of the 11 Race Equity Practices outlined in the One Vision One Voice Practice Framework across all Children’s Aid Societies across the province;

• The immediate elimination of racial disparities in school suspensions and expulsions and the enactment of de-streaming pilot projects across the province; and

• The inclusion of the Black community in section 6 of Schedule 16 of the Legal Aid Services Act, 2019.

As communities and agencies continue the complex and often difficult work of ensuring that all Ontarians are treated fairly by the Justice System, and indeed all public institutions, it is important that we name and speak honestly about barriers to equity.  Together We Rise applauds BLAC’s impassioned statement on Anti-Black Racism. We encourage all those working towards the goals of equity, safety and prosperity in Ontario-Hamilton or local neighbourhoods, to actively engage in the conversations about Anti-Black Racism. Collectively, we can inform the creation of effective policies and practices that will ensure all of us can contribute to improving our own living conditions and lifting the conditions of our neighbours. Together WE Rise!

Canada was founded on racial injustice yet has a long history of denying racism as a country.

Despite human rights being protected by federal, provincial and territorial laws, racist and discriminatory stereotypes about people of African Descent permeate contemporary society and disproportionately impact the social, economic, educational, and health outcomes of Black men, women and children. Whether they are descendants of those who were enslaved or recent immigrants, people of African Descent are united by a shared, lived experience with anti-Black racism. 

Hamilton Community Legal Clinic is committed to anti-racism. We share both the pain and the righteous rage communities are experiencing across Turtle Island. Sadly, the excessive impact of COVID-19 on African Canadians and the events of the last week are nothing new, but they demand a different response from civic leaders, institutions and all of us as human beings. We must move from being non-racist to being anti-racist. We must acknowledge systemic racism and take actions together in the spirit of anti-racism to disrupt patterns of oppression that punish some while privileging so many.  It is time for bold leadership and action. It’s time for justice for all.