Halifax created a new page on its website Wednesday morning, posting all of its contracts with public sector unions — including, for the first time, police. The addition follows two requests from the Halifax Examiner for the contract between the municipality and the Halifax Regional Police Association (HRPA), the union representing Halifax Regional Police officers and […]
We need to keep talking about racism
Morning File, Tuesday, June 16, 2020
News 1. Board of police commissioners’ meeting cancelled and other tales of non-transparency and lack of accountability El Jones writes about the cancellation of today’s Board of Police Commissioners meeting, ostensibly because — three months into the pandemic — they can’t figure out how to use Microsoft Teams. Jones writes: As the movement to defund […]
In the midst of a crisis over policing, Halifax’s police commission has cancelled its scheduled meetings and is declining to accept public input
I've got 99 problems; Microsoft Teams ain’t one of them.
In the midst of sustained protests about policing, and facing increasing questioning about their role and responsibilities, the Board of Police Commissioners cancelled their meeting planned for today. Members of the Board indicated to Harry Critchley that the reason for the cancellation was that not everybody on the Board was set up to use Microsoft […]
The racist (and dumb) iconography of the anti-gun control zealots
Morning File, Monday, June 15, 2020
News 1. Black Lives Matter “We have been watching the Black Lives Matters protests and the conversations about police violence,” write a group of people in a federal prison. “We have been taking part in our own conversations with prisoners of all races. We would like to share some of our conversations and conclusions with […]
Ice cream and the Long Hot Summer
The worldwide Black Lives Matters protests against police brutality and racial injustice have prompted me to meditate on (among other topics) … vanilla. For vanilla — one of the most expensive spices on the planet — loomed large in my youthful witnessing of a quiet act of resistance against forces that have kneed the necks (literally […]
Black Lives Matter in prison, too
A group of federally incarcerated Black prisoners have written the following statement. It was read to El Jones, and has been slightly edited for length and clarity. We have been watching the Black Lives Matters protests and the conversations about police violence. We have been taking part in our own conversations with prisoners of all […]
How Halifax council can (and must) regulate police use of force
As has already been reported, at today’s Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) Budget Committee meeting, every councillor with the exception of Steve Adams voted to approve an amendment to the budget that cancelled the purchase of an armoured vehicle for the Halifax Regional Police (HRP) and instead reallocate the funding. Specifically, after an hour in camera […]
Putting body cameras on cops won’t solve the problem of police violence
Morning File, Monday, June 8, 2020
News 1. Police violence Stephen Kimber speaks to white people: Still, we — white people again — are at least in a more honest place today than where we were before May 25 when a Minneapolis cop named Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck and squeezed the life out of him. The […]
Halifax cops and Black people: the Rodney Small case
Morning File, Thursday, June 4, 2020
News 1. Police and Black people in Halifax The police murder of George Floyd is highlighting what Black people have known forever: there is too much policing. On Tuesday, Sarah Dobson drew our attention to the Halifax case of Rodney Small, then a 15-year-old living in Uniacke Square. An appellant court ruling explained the (alleged) […]
One day in the streets doesn’t stop injustice, but it does show how Black lives matter
I’m standing in front of the Black Lives Matter banner at the protest for Regis on Saturday when my phone starts ringing insistently. It’s the jail. I walk away from the crowd and answer. A young Black man is calling from segregation at Burnside. Along with other prisoners, he filed a habeas application challenging their […]