The community continues to point to systemic racism within the Ottawa Police Service. The United For All coalition vigorously condemns the offensive videos circulating online that target Chief Peter Sloly and his efforts to address systemic racism in the Ottawa Police Service in response to calls from the community.
We are also deeply troubled by two incidents where community members were thwarted in their efforts to raise awareness about anti-Black racism and police brutality. These community members created anti-racism chalk art and were attempting to bring the community together to address these issues in Ottawa. We commend them for their work.
For the partners involved with United For All, this difficult weekend serves as a reminder of how much work we still have to do as a community. These incidents point directly to the need for a collaborative city-wide strategy to address racism and discrimination.
Speaking on behalf of the United For All coalition, Yasir Naqvi, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), said:
“Last year, we launched the United For All coalition to overcome hate and violence in our communities, including racism. This work continues and our partners are working closely with the City of Ottawa Anti-Racism Secretariat, Ottawa Police Service and Crime Prevention Ottawa as part of the development of the community-wide strategy.
“In response to these events, United For All partners reiterate their support for the Ottawa Police equity, diversity and inclusion vision, which includes racial profiling policy, traffic stop race data collection project, diversity and gender audits and addressing major concerns regarding lack of trust in policing.
“Chief Peter Sloly’s leadership and accountability measures are key steps in restoring public trust in institutions and making it easier for the community to build trust with the police.
“We also want to reinforce this message: diversity is the heartbeat of our city. Thank you to those who, each day, bravely stand up for equity. And, for those on a journey of learning — we are here for you too. Together, we can overcome hate and violence.”
Yasir Naqvi
Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Canadian Citizenship
Michael Allen
President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way East Ontario
About United For All
United For All is comprised of a growing partnership of organizations in the Ottawa region that have come together to address the issues of hate-based violence and extremism in Ottawa. The group has a table of champions representing the leadership of our city, as well as member organizations that represent the diversity of our community. In this first year, the coalition will build a city-wide approach to tackling hate and violence with the goal of securing public and private funding to bolster its work. United For All has a long-term goal to build social resilience, to support education, advocacy, research, and ultimately, to overcome hate, bigotry and racism in Ottawa.
For more information on United For All visit unitedforall.ca.
For more information, please contact:
Clare Graham
Institute for Canadian Citizenship
cgraham@inclusion.ca
Meaghan Salmons
Institute for Canadian Citizenship
msalmons@inclusion.ca
Hayley Robateau
United Way East Ontario
hrobateau@unitedwayeo.ca
