As law enforcement institutions across North America continue to face criticism for the number of fatal shootings against minorities in the last few weeks alone, a new CBC study reveals most of Canada's police forces are overwhelmingly white.In a country that is often praised for being a melting pot of cultures, Halifax is the only major Canadian city with a police force that is equally as racially diverse as its population. (And that's because only seven percent of the city's population is a visible minority.)
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The Nunavut RCMP shows the worst ratio with 12 percent police diversity to 88 percent of its population being a visual minority.Clive Weighill, head of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, told CBC that Canadian police forces have made progress and this data should not be discouraging."If you would compare policing to private corporations or other civic or municipal corporations, I think you'd see our numbers are drastically ahead of most people," he said.Police forces in Hamilton, Regina, and Saskatoon all fared better in diversity than those in most major cities. While Toronto's data doesn't reveal great racially diversity, its police force has made a lot of headway in hiring non-white officers. In 2000, Toronto police had nine percent diversity, compared to 24 percent today.Other major communities like Northwest Territories and Vancouver have much lower police diversity.Recent events have thrust racism and abuse of power in policing into the spotlight. Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has agreed to address anti-racism policies after multiple requests from Black Lives Matter Toronto Founder, Sandy Hudson.Tonight, Wynne will meet with Toronto Mayor John Tory in Toronto to address issues including anti-black racism, Islamophobia and anti-Indigenous racism.Follow Ebony-Renee Baker on Twitter.
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