Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said Friday that she supports calls for a public inquiry into allegations of racist behaviour that has rocked the Montreal police department (SPVM).
“I absolutely agree on the fact that we do need a public inquiry,” Martinez Ferrada said. “Let’s just wait until we have the right procedure in terms of having the people that committed these crimes on racism and action have a mandate of criminal accusations.”
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“But I do think that the systemic racism that we have right now and the profiling that we have right now needs to be addressed in order to rebuild the trust,” the mayor added.
The mayor’s statements come even as Black public servants working for the City of Montreal are joining a growing chorus calling for major reforms to crack down on systemic racism.
A committee representing the Black employees has released a letter demanding concrete actions to solve the problem.
The renewed calls for change are adding to mounting pressure on government officials after police dismantled a patrol unit in a multicultural neighbourhood of Montreal on June 12 due to serious allegations of racism and misconduct.
Martinez Ferrada said her husband, who is Black, had also been stopped by the police several times for no reason. She said last week’s allegations raises the question of whether there should be a moratorium on traffic stops.
“I think this comes due to the emotion of not being trusted by the people that actually should be protecting you,” she added.
On Thursday, that Black employees of the Montreal police department had also sent a letter to a senior police official warning that they feared reprisals for denouncing instances of racism.
The office of Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada’s has confirmed it received both letters.
City employees say in the new letter that they have been trying to denounce racism for years, and want solutions, as opposed to promises to study the issue further.
They say racism is not limited to the city’s police force with blue collar workers having taken several steps to flag their concerns, including meeting with human resources and officials as well as drafting memos and recommendations.
In response to the letter by the City Hall employees, the mayor said, “I absolutely agree we have to make sure that people even our institution as a City of Montreal has to be one of the best employers and if there’s any doubt in terms of how people feel in our in our own institution we need to address it as we need to address the issue on the SPVM.”
“All institutions that work for the citizens, that supports citizens should be free of any discrimination in any racism or profiling whatsoever and I totally agree that we have to make sure that we are to be perfect as employers,” she added.
— With files from The Canadian Press
