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| Hodine Williams |
But for Black Canadians, this narrative promoted by Canada often feels hollow. You see, the big, grey elephant sitting cozily front and centre is that anti-Black racism is woven into the fabric of our institutions, and the justice system is no exception. I am in no way saying that the fix can be achieved overnight or that there hasn’t been effort. I am saying that more be done with a sense of purpose and alacrity. While there have been significant steps forward, the progress has been uneven, and the challenges remain daunting.
The issue isn’t solely a legal one; it’s absolutely a moral one. It’s about who we are as a country and who we want to be. So, let’s have an honest conversation about where we stand, where we’re falling short, and what needs to change.
The uncomfortable reality — a system that fails black Canadians
Let’s start with the facts. Black Canadians make up just around 3.5 per cent of the population but account for closer to nine per cent of the inmate population, according to data from the Office of the Correctional Investigator. In Ontario, Black people are disproportionately represented in prisons, making up 14 per cent of the incarcerated population despite being only five per cent of the province’s residents. The reasonable and logical conclusion is that these numbers aren’t anomalies; they’re symptoms of a system that disproportionately targets and punishes Black people.
Racial profiling by police is a well-documented issue. A 2018 report by the Ontario Human Rights Commission revealed that Black Torontonians were 20 times more likely to be shot by police than white residents. Isn’t it strange that even in routine interactions, Black Canadians are more likely to be stopped, questioned or arrested — often without cause? A 2020 report by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association found that Black and Indigenous people are significantly overrepresented in police street checks, commonly known as carding, despite having lower rates of criminal activity.
And it doesn’t stop at policing. The data suggest that Black Canadians face barriers at every stage of the legal process, from accessing fair trials to securing parole. Are there implicit biases among judges, lawyers and juries? Why are there harsher sentences and fewer opportunities for rehabilitation? Is there truth to any of it? Well, let us look at the data again. Studies have shown that Black offenders were more likely (3.2 times) to be convicted compared to their white counterparts.
This isn’t just about individual acts of discrimination; it’s about a system that has historically failed Black communities. It is that far too many policies and practices perpetuate inequality, even when they’re not explicitly racist.
Is there any progress toward a more just system?
Despite these challenges, there have been meaningful efforts to address anti-Black racism within Canada’s legal framework.
Take for instance cases involving the police searching persons. One significant step came in 2019 with the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Le, 2019 SCC 34. Ten years before that was R. v. Grant, 2009 SCC 32, where police officers stopped the accused on the street without any reasonable grounds. What Grant did was to lay out the framework for determining psychological detentions, but it missed a crucial element — the role of race in the case.
That’s where Le stands apart. While Grant ignored these racial dynamics, the majority in Le correctly made race a key part of their analysis, drawing on various sources to characterize the idea of a “reasonable person” in this context. Unlike Grant and similar cases, the court in Le didn’t shy away from the issue — it acknowledged that race plays a significant role in psychological detentions and tackled it head-on.
Legislative reforms have also played a role. In 2021, the federal government passed Bill C-22, which repealed mandatory minimum sentences for certain offences. Many argued that these sentences had disproportionately affected Black offenders, contributing to their overrepresentation in prisons. The government has also committed to collecting race-based data on policing and incarceration, a crucial step in identifying and addressing systemic disparities.
At the provincial level, some jurisdictions have gone further and have taken steps to increase police accountability. In Ontario, for example, the province introduced new laws requiring police services to collect and report race-based data on use-of-force incidents. Body cameras and civilian oversight boards are also being implemented in various regions to increase transparency and hold law enforcement accountable.
Community advocacy has been a driving force behind many of these changes. Organizations like the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) and the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) have been instrumental in pushing for reforms and providing legal support to Black Canadians.
Yet, roadblocks remain.
This is part one of a two-part series. Part two: Are we seriously tackling anti-Black racism? Part two.
Hodine Williams has over 20 years of experience in law, corporate governance and regulatory compliance across the legal, financial, hospitality and engineering sectors. A former prosecutor and expert in digital forensics, financial crimes and cyber law, he has advised corporations in Jamaica, Canada and the United Kingdom. Holding a master of laws in international business law from Osgoode Hall Law School, along with degrees in management and economics and law, Williams is also an educator, philanthropist and advocate for youth development and racialized communities. You can reach him at hodine.williams@gmail.com.
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