A Surrey Police crest is seen on the side of one of the force’s vehicles in Surrey, B.C., in July 2023. The provincial government wants the city to move ahead with an independent police force instead of using the RCMP.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The current blue-on-blue battle between competing law enforcement agencies in a large British Columbia city does little to strengthen public trust in the rule of law and in our police forces
Police officers are seen in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa in September 2023 at the conservative ‘1MillionMarch4Children’ protest.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle
Despite public calls to defund the police in 2020, the budgets of Canadian police forces have continued to rise.
A woman carries an umbrella outside a protest to defund the police in front of Toronto Police Service headquarters in July 2020. Police budgets have increased, not decreased, since then.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
New research shows police budgets have continued to increase in all major Canadian cities in the aftermath of the defund the police movement.
A person holds a sign calling for to defund the police during an October 2020 protest in Ottawa after a police constable was acquitted of manslaughter in the 2016 death of a Black man, Abdirahman Abdi.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Has the defund the police movement had an impact in Canada? It depends on how you define success.
Police push back protesters during a demonstration in Montréal calling for justice for victims of police brutality.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
The large budgets allotted for urban policing must be reconsidered so that communities can explore safer alternatives.
Thousands of people protest to defund the police in support of Black Lives Matter and all social injustice against racism in Toronto on June 19, 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Reforming the police is possible, but it depends on applying pressure on politicians.