A growing group of citizens is speaking out against the police practice of carding.  We are committed to a Toronto that is inclusive, diverse, welcoming, and respectful, and carding does not fit that vision.

Carding has led many in our city to distrust and disrespect our police.  Anger, hurt and unrest have replaced any benefits police may derive from this practice.

We all need to oppose carding vehemently.  We resent its debilitating impact on our friends and neighbours.  It sends a message of hopelessness to young people with black or brown skin.  We cannot and will not accept this for any group or community in our city.  We do not need a new generation of Torontonians growing up to believe our police are their adversaries.

We are offended by the notion of casually and routinely stopping citizens, outside of police investigations of actual criminal acts that have occurred, to question and record, and then store personal data in police files. We are deeply distressed that Toronto residents of colour are subjected to this invasion of their privacy when the overwhelming majority of white-skinned citizens are not.

We believe that carding violates the human rights of citizens. It goes against the principles of our Charter Rights.  It paints a disturbing picture and repeats a narrative that is reminiscent of ugly practices that were historically endured by racialized residents, particularly those of African Canadian backgrounds.

We cannot allow an environment of anger and distrust of our police to exist and fester in our city, particularly among the African Canadian and other racial minority communities.  We cannot sit back and allow this to undermine everything we teach our children about Canada being a fair and equal society.

Our call is not intended to interfere with the common police practice of conducting criminal investigations in order to apprehend criminals in the interest of public safety.  Rather, it seeks to correct an injustice that harms police/community relations, and damages the reputation of our police service and the city it serves.  

If this demeaning practice of selected carding is not terminated quickly, it will irreversibly divide and separate our various communities and cultures. We must be a city where every citizen is treated equally and justly. 

We urge Mayor John Tory, Alok Mukherjee, Chair of the Police Services Board and Mark Saunders, Chief of Police to immediately cease the practice of carding.  We also urge Toronto City Council to request the Toronto Police Services Board to eliminate the practice of carding.  

And we call on all citizens of this city to step forward and make known their distaste of this fear-mongering practice. 

Sincerely,

Concerned Citizens to End Carding

Zanana Akande, Jean Augustine, Mary Anne Chambers, Alvin Curling, Councillor Michael Thompson, Max Beck, David V.J. Bell, David Ben, Diana Bennett, Harold Brathwaite, Alan Broadbent, Judy Broadbent, Joy Bullen, Joanne Campbell, Gordon Chong, Gordon Cressy, David Crombie, Jean Cuddy, Joy Fielding, Paul Garfinkel, Meric Gertler, Anne Golden, Kamala Jean Gopie, Merle Grant, Joan Green, Barbara Hall, Donna Harrow, Donna Hill, Ken Jeffers, Denham Jolly, Cheuk Kwan, Henry Labatte, Michele Landsberg, Frances Lankin, Spencer Lanthier, Sheldon Levy, Stephen Lewis, David McCamus, Lloyd McKell, Roy McMurty, Noella Milne, Penny Milton (Moss), Peter Oliver, Ratna Omidvar, Walter Pitman, Bob Richardson, Bev Salmon, J Douglas Salmon Jr., Warren Salmon, John Sewell, Warren Seyffert, Dorothy Shoichet, David Soknacki, Roy Williams, Joseph Wong, and Robert J. Wright.