Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last two weeks, people across North America and the world have been taking to the streets to protest against the excessive use of force by law enforcement and police brutality towards black, Indigenous, and all peoples of colour.
These protests began in Minnesota after footage was released of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of an unarmed black man named George Floyd, who later died because of this brutal police interaction. Why did the police use excessive force on George Floyd? A cashier alleged he had a counterfeit $20 bill.
George Floyd's death might have been the catalyst triggering these protests; however, his death symbolizes a much larger issue within our society, which is institutional racism against black, Indigenous, and all peoples of colour.
Mr. Speaker, as a Dene woman and a former Chief, I have heard of hundreds of cases of police brutality towards unarmed Indigenous people and other people of colour, both in the NWT and across Canada. Even this past weekend, my friend, Alan Adam, Chief of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, publicly discussed an incident of police brutality that he experienced with the RCMP in March of this year. In fact, Chief Adam has shared images of his beaten and battered face from this brutal police interaction. Why did the RCMP use excessive force on Chief Adam? Expired vehicle registration.
Systemic racism is a fact of life, and if these two stories aren't enough to show the over-policing of black and brown bodies, here are some statistics. According to a CBC analysis of data from fatal police encounters from 2000-2017, while Indigenous people make up only 4.8 percent of the general population, they account for 15 percent of all police fatality victims. Conversely, black Canadians account for only 3.4 percent of the general population, yet account for 9 percent of all police fatality victims. These stats show that racialized people experience disproportionate levels of police violence than others.
Mr. Speaker, structural racism has persisted in our government and legal systems for far too long in this country. Canada and the RCMP have a deep colonial history that cannot be ignored, and we must call out and root out the learned behaviours of racism at all levels of government. We have had dozens of reports, national inquiries, and royal commissions, and they all share this same conclusion. I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted