On November 19, the Alberta Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, Kaycee Madu, announced a ban on carding in Alberta.
Conspicuously absent at the announcement, were activist groups calling for improvement in policing of minorities, well the reason why they a frequent recipient of attacks from the Nigerian-born Minister, the toughest critic of the defunding the police campaigns and activist groups calling for improvement in policing of minorities, the very foundation for his announcement rooted in the murder of George Floyd.
The only Black Minister made the well received announcement in front of a waiting press, in the e-presence of representatives from Alberta’s multicultural communities, and law enforcement leaders. Edmonton Police Chief, Dale MacFee, the first to acknowledge the existence of systemic racism, and Calgary Chief Constable, Mark Neufeld, both police services who have already banned the humiliating practice were e-present.
Before the announcement, the Honorable Minister could not resist the urge to let arrogance and politics poke their ugly face in such a historic announcement. He could not finish the announcement without rubbing it on the face of his NDP predecessors, arrogantly pointing a finger at the former NDP Justice Minister for not taking action on this issue while in government.
“…I am proud to announce that the Alberta Government is banning the police practice of carding immediately and creating new rules on the use of street checks…,” Minister Madu announced.
The Alberta Justice Minister will go on to clear the often interchanged confusion between carding and street checks:
“…Carding is the practice of randomly requesting personal information from members of the public…it’s an inappropriate use of police power…that is why we’re banning it outright throughout our province…Street checks are reasonably voluntary interactions…street checks are situations where there is a specific reason for an officer to speak to members of the public, collect personal or identifiable information from them, for lawful police work…”
Most of the leaders invited welcomed the announcement and call for concrete action and more changes in the Police Act. Siksika Nation Councillor, Samuel Crowfoot called for the Minister to back his words with action if the announcement is not a PR stunt, integrity check, change of heart, or a form of reconciliation taking place.
The biggest challenge will be in how to educate the communities to be able to differentiate between the often confusing carding and street checks and know how to respond accordingly. Another headache will be what to make of and enhance the practice using the street checks report submitted by police services across the province, as well as, address the homeless issues that are at the centre of this issue, a topic that the minister waved to another day when asked, drawing a bright smile from the face of the Edmonton Police Chief.
Calgary Chief Constable, Mark Neufeld, said one street stop is carried out in Calgary every hour. We could not get any reaction from MLA Michael George Ellis who stared in the announcement as the man who brought attention to the issue in 2016. We called MLA Ellis’s office to find out what he did for this same issue when he was a Calgary Police Officer but got no one on the phone.
