Language selector

OHRC-Toronto Police Project releases first status report

Page controls

August 21, 2008

Page content

The Toronto Police Service and the Toronto Police Services Board tabled a report at the Board’s meeting today on first year activities undertaken as part of their partnership with the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Human Rights Chief Commissioner Barbara Hall commented, “I am very pleased with the progress made so far. These first-year results show strong commitment at senior levels for positive human rights change and demonstrate what we can achieve when we take a more collaborative and broader approach towards addressing human rights issues and concerns that affect us all.”

Formalized in a Human Rights Project Charter, launched in March 2007, the three-year initiative involves several committees comprised of representatives from the TPS, TPSB and the OHRC working to identify human rights issues and develop appropriate initiatives to prevent and eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination in TPSB employment policies and the delivery of policing services by the TPS.

"This Human Rights Project Charter is perhaps one of the most significant change efforts undertaken by the Toronto Police Services Board. Its ambitious goal is to transform organizational culture and to ensure that our service to the public and our treatment of those who work for us reflect a firm adherence to the Ontario Human Rights Code, and are accountable. A great deal of hope and expectation ride on the success of this unique Project!" stated Dr. Alok Mukherjee, Chair, Toronto Police Services Board.

Activities highlighted in the first-year report include:

  • Creating learning programs that address racism ad racially-biased policing
  • Ensuring all TPS communications reinforce human rights and anti-racism themes
  • Improving recruitment activities to reach all of Toronto’s diverse communities
  • Making sure that advancement and promotion opportunities are available within the TPS for members of Toronto’s racialized and marginalized communities
  • Improving internal processes for responding to human rights complaints filed against the Toronto Police Services

Chief William Blair, Toronto Police Service, stated, "The Toronto Police Service has committed, along with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Toronto Police Services Board, to an ambitious project that builds on the progress the Service has made with human rights and delivering fair, equitable and bias-free policing. We seek, always, to learn from our experiences and work, in a truly collaborative way, to get guidance for the future delivery of policing in Toronto. ”

The report also acknowledges the need to improve the delivery of police services by increasing public education activities and working more closely with Toronto’s many diverse communities.

To read the report click here: