Anglais
‘Hidden form of prejudice’: Diversity trainers say solving police racism has no quick fix
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Against the backdrop of smoldering tensions over race and policing in Toronto and Thunder Bay, Ont., trainers and educators who specialize in anti-racism efforts caution that cultural sensitivity training for police officers is no quick fix.
« Our use of stereotypes is an unconscious habit. Like any habit, it’s hard to break, » said Shakil Choudhury, a Toronto-based consultant who has lead diversity training for about 25 years.
« You’re not going to break the habit after one training [session], »
Police in Thunder Bay are under intense scrutiny over their interactions with Indigenous people, after two separate reports released this week suggested the police service in the northern Ontario city is rife with institutional racism.
The reports advised that both police officers and the civilian board, which oversees the police service, undertake cultural sensitivity training about Indigenous peoples.
Toronto police already conduct mandatory training on diversity and bias avoidance, but they are also under fire after the Ontario Human Rights Commission released statistics on Monday showing black people are « grossly overrepresented » in violent interactions with police.
The reports didn’t surprise Choudhury, who has conducted diversity training for several police forces in Ontario and Alberta.
In a report released Wednesday, Ontario’s independent police watchdog Gerry McNeilly said that there’s a ‘crisis of trust’ between police and Thunder Bay’s Indigenous community. (Matt Prokopchuk/CBC)
He says systemic racism is « pervasive » in policing and the criminal justice system in Canada, and it takes time and commitment from leadership to root it out.
« Like any other lesson we learned in school — whether it was math, learning to read, or write — it took repetition … It took a teacher to help us work through our mistakes, » he said.
« Equally, that’s how you’re going to undo unconscious bias. »
However, some anti-racism educators question the effectiveness of unconscious bias training.
According to Carl James, a York University professor who has published several reports about anti-black racism in education, research suggests that unconscious bias training hasn’t produced desired results.
« We have heard over and over again that the police have had training. So the question is, why hasn’t it produced anything different? »
‘A hidden form of prejudice’
The problem, according to James, is a resistance to mandatory training.
« When people reluctantly sit in the place and are … given training, one would wonder how willing are they to really engage, in a deep way of thinking, through what ought to be dealt with, » said James.
Choudhury, who has also trained teachers and health professionals, acknowledges participants in anti-racism workshops often feel defensive, « because they’re basically waiting to be told that they’re bad, they’re wrong and they’re racist, » he said.
[Unconscious bias] is part of the human condition, and you can be trained to uncover it.– Shakil Choudhury
Choudhury tries to avoid the blame-game by explaining unconscious bias, which he describes as « a hidden form of prejudice. »
« You don’t have bias because you’re a bad person, » he said. « We’ve all been socialized in a system in which criminality and danger has been associated with the darkness of one’s skin. That is an incorrect assumption, yet it is pervasive, » said Choudhury.
Unconscious bias training programs, which are designed to expose people to deeply ingrained stereotypes they hold about everything from race to gender, have been rolled out to police forces across Canada and the United States.
Toronto Police came under scrutiny this week when a report from the Ontario Human Rights Commission found that a black person in Toronto is 20 times more likely than a white person to be shot by police. (Christopher Langenzarde/CBC)
Choudhury believes it’s also important to teach emotional intelligence skills to police.
« Police officers very much feel highly criticized, and rightfully so … But this [unconscious bias] is part of the human condition, and you can be trained to uncover it, » says Choudhury.
But training for individual officers won’t work, James suggests, unless the entire culture of an organization is examined for bias.
« One of the benefits might be a nice conversation — but a conversation toward what? Is it going to produce the changes necessary to provide a more effective organization that works with the community in less discriminatory ways? »
Policing solutions in Saskatoon
Métis entrepreneur and journalist John Lagimodiere believes police forces can change.
Lagimodiere led Indigenous awareness training for Saskatoon police in 2002 and 2003, after the practice of « starlight tours » — where officers would abandon Indigenous men, perceived as troublemakers, on the outskirts of town in the dead of winter — was exposed.
John Lagimodiere is the publisher/editor of Eagle Feather News. (Submitted by John Lagimodiere)
Police were taught Indigenous history, treaties, the Indian Act, and residential schools. Elders were invited to offer cultural teachings.
« All of Canada got robbed of the proper education about Aboriginal people, » said Lagimodiere.
« It’s not their [police officer’s] fault they don’t know. It’s not their fault it’s those perceptions and biases are in there, because they’re born into them. »
Lagimodiere recalls police responding positively, including one memorable follow-up with a long-serving sergeant.
« He said, ‘That two days I spent with you changed the entire way I police,' » said Lagimodiere.
In the past decade, Saskatoon police have hired more Indigenous members and offered compulsory diversity training. The Saskatoon police chief began holding annual meetings with Indigenous elders. Police also helped erect a memorial to missing and murdered Indigenous women in front of police headquarters.
But Lagimodiere says the key changes need to be on the street.
« A lot of these guys [police officers] don’t know where this pain in the community comes from, » said Lagimodiere, who teaches police officers to approach Indigenous people they’re investigating differently.
« If you can talk to them in a good way, without blaming these dudes … once they have a better perspective on it, things get better relationship-wise. »
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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.
In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.
Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.
With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.
Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”
“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.
The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.
When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.
“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”
MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.
MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.
The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.
The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.
Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.
STUDIO SHORTAGE
The film industry is cramped in Montreal.
According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.
With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.
Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »
« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.
She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.
« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.
There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.
« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.
Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.
For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.
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