Fired native officers ‘vulnerable,' rights hearing told
First Nations officers can be arbitrarily fired by the Ontario Provincial Police, but don’t enjoy the full benefits of non-aboriginal officers, an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal hearing has been told.
“I feel vulnerable,” said Const. Marcel Maracle, who joined the Tyendinaga force in Eastern Ontario 20 years ago.
Maracle was testifying at the hearing for Larry Hay, a former Mohawk police chief who was fired in 2008 by former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino.
Maracle said his pension is less than that of maintream OPP officers and that he can’t directly apply for non-aboriginal policing units in the OPP. He said he also still hasn’t heard whether he can join the Ontario Provincial Police Association, which represents officers.
Maracle said the abrupt firing of Hay, his former chief, over comments he made to a student journalist has made him conscious that he’s subject to OPP discipline, but lacks the association’s protection.
Maracle credited Hay with introducing culturally sensitive policing methods, like encouraging officers to take Mohawk language lessons and get involved in the community of 1,500.
Hay accuses Fantino, now a member of Parliament, of discrimination and not consulting with the Mohawk band before terminating his employment after nine years as police chief.
Hay, a 28-year police veteran and former Mountie, was fired for comments he made to a Loyalist College student newspaper.
The comment came in April 2007, when Hay attempted to keep the peace at a quarry occupied by Mohawk militants, who were protesting the removal of gravel from the site of a land claim.
Hay told an aboriginal student journalist: “I left the RCMP after Oka and I realized just what a racist organization the RCMP was, and I came here to learn the OPP and the SQ (Sûreté du Québec) are no different. It’s deep-seated racism, and they will do all kinds of things to show that it isn’t so, but we know better.”
Within four days, Fantino, suspended Hay and nine months later he was fired.
Hay’s lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, noted that, less than two months after the suspension, similar remarks were made by Justice Sidney Linden at the end of 22 months of hearings into the shooting death of Anthony (Dudley) George by an OPP officer.
In his report, Linden stated: “Cultural sensitivity and racism was not restricted to a few ‘bad apples’ within the OPP but was more widespread. An organizational problem requires an organizational solution.”
Maracle agreed with Christopher Diana, a lawyer for the attorney general’s ministry, that things have improved since the release of the Ipperwash Inquiry report five years ago.
“We’ve come a long ways,” Maracle said.
Fantino and OPP commissioner Chris Lewis are expected to testify next week.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Peter Edwards
First Nations officers can be arbitrarily fired by the Ontario Provincial Police, but don’t enjoy the full benefits of non-aboriginal officers, an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal hearing has been told.
“I feel vulnerable,” said Const. Marcel Maracle, who joined the Tyendinaga force in Eastern Ontario 20 years ago.
Maracle was testifying at the hearing for Larry Hay, a former Mohawk police chief who was fired in 2008 by former OPP commissioner Julian Fantino.
Maracle said his pension is less than that of maintream OPP officers and that he can’t directly apply for non-aboriginal policing units in the OPP. He said he also still hasn’t heard whether he can join the Ontario Provincial Police Association, which represents officers.
Maracle said the abrupt firing of Hay, his former chief, over comments he made to a student journalist has made him conscious that he’s subject to OPP discipline, but lacks the association’s protection.
Maracle credited Hay with introducing culturally sensitive policing methods, like encouraging officers to take Mohawk language lessons and get involved in the community of 1,500.
Hay accuses Fantino, now a member of Parliament, of discrimination and not consulting with the Mohawk band before terminating his employment after nine years as police chief.
Hay, a 28-year police veteran and former Mountie, was fired for comments he made to a Loyalist College student newspaper.
The comment came in April 2007, when Hay attempted to keep the peace at a quarry occupied by Mohawk militants, who were protesting the removal of gravel from the site of a land claim.
Hay told an aboriginal student journalist: “I left the RCMP after Oka and I realized just what a racist organization the RCMP was, and I came here to learn the OPP and the SQ (Sûreté du Québec) are no different. It’s deep-seated racism, and they will do all kinds of things to show that it isn’t so, but we know better.”
Within four days, Fantino, suspended Hay and nine months later he was fired.
Hay’s lawyer, Peter Rosenthal, noted that, less than two months after the suspension, similar remarks were made by Justice Sidney Linden at the end of 22 months of hearings into the shooting death of Anthony (Dudley) George by an OPP officer.
In his report, Linden stated: “Cultural sensitivity and racism was not restricted to a few ‘bad apples’ within the OPP but was more widespread. An organizational problem requires an organizational solution.”
Maracle agreed with Christopher Diana, a lawyer for the attorney general’s ministry, that things have improved since the release of the Ipperwash Inquiry report five years ago.
“We’ve come a long ways,” Maracle said.
Fantino and OPP commissioner Chris Lewis are expected to testify next week.
Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Peter Edwards
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