Public Safety committee  Mr. Chair, may I ask that the two documents we provided be part of the proceedings?

Public Safety committee  Thank you to the committee.

Public Safety committee  In Ontario, in particular, right now.... I had the honour of being part of a team that, on behalf of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, negotiated with the provincial government over 100 amendments to the Police Services Act—they haven't been proclaimed enforced, but they've been passed by the Ford government—creating legislated police standards for indigenous police services, an option to opt in to legislation.

Public Safety committee  Yes, that's right.

Public Safety committee  It's important that indigenous communities choose for themselves. Not everyone wants the Queen's act, and that's fair enough. There may be cultural identity protections in the legislation—I can tell you there are—but they need to be able to opt in. I'm saying to create that option across the country.

Public Safety committee  First and foremost, Mr. Harris, you're entitled to legislate federally in terms of, obviously, the RCMP, so I would start with the RCMP. The reality is that right now there are mandatory training requirements for use of force and for training around firearms, tasers, etc. You could create the same level of robust, rigorous requirements for training around de-escalation and for highlighting and showcasing those with those skills.

Public Safety committee  The best practice that I would emphasize is the need to cease the emphasis on being an occupying force and reinforce the community perspective. Police services need to align their values with those of community, not the opposite. You see that in indigenous policing. You need to set up indigenous police services for success.

Public Safety committee  This is precisely where you could involve the creation of true civilian oversight, so that it's not the police making this decision. It is a paramilitary organization that is going to go in a paramilitary direction. On the Paquet death in Toronto, Chief Saunders specifically said that he was not going to send in the mobile crisis team when the situation was tricky.

Public Safety committee  I'm honoured, Ms. Khera, that you raised this. You'll notice that in my remarks, I comment that we're still challenged at the Law Society of Ontario. We still have benchers who, literally, deny the existence of systemic racism in the profession. What I would say is that, in the end, those who are in the business of denying reality will be left behind.

Public Safety committee  If it's okay with Ms. Whitman, I can go first.

Public Safety committee  Thank you. I've seen this committee's work specifically on the issues surrounding recommendations that have ended up in Bill C-3 concerning the civilian review and complaints commission. What I am left wondering, after 30 years of doing this work in policing specifically, is this: What is the fear of creating independent civilian oversight over the RCMP?

Public Safety committee  Minister Blair will tell you that Julian Fantino would be very uncomfortable with that.

Public Safety committee  I must say that I didn't know how to switch language channels. I hope my understanding of French is good enough for me to answer you properly. I'm sorry if I got it wrong. I want to emphasize that there are a number of different kinds of mobile crisis teams. Some are actually made up purely of mental health professionals, but others—the program called COAST, out of Hamilton, is an example—are made up of a combination.

Public Safety committee  Thank you for asking that question. This is what I believe. I was in Thunder Bay, literally by the park where the Floyd protests were happening, and I was struck by how many people came out. I am not trying to suggest that it's one solution, but what people have difficulty with, it's become more and more obvious, is the double standard that is applied to bad policing.

Public Safety committee  Yes. I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Whitman and commend her for her good work. It's really a poignant comment. In acting for a number of indigenous police services, including the largest in Canada—the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service—and the Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, I've had a chance to look at these issues and reflect on them from my own perspective.