Policing was a hot topic at Monday night’s Ontario leaders’ debate, with each party laying out just how they would provide police with better training that would ensure serious situations come to a peaceful resolution.
Speaking at the CityNews debate, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath took a shot at PC Leader Doug Ford’s plans to save government money, while stressing her party would ensure all forces receive the same amount of de-escalation training.
“Depending on where you are from and where you are serving, you could have three minutes of training or three hours of training or more than that. But in order to get that training, you need to make sure you have the resources in place to pay for that training. I think Mr. Ford’s cuts are going to hurt that training.”
Ford responded that Horwath clearly thinks the government is run efficiently and there’s no need for change.
Meanwhile, Premier Kathleen Wynne said they will continue to fund that type of training and ensure it’s provided evenly across the province.
Another policing issue that came up was the illegal practice of carding, asking a person for their ID based on the colour of their skin. Wynne told the audience that the practice is based on systemic racism and that’s why they created a law to help stop it.
“That’s the period we are in right now, we are monitoring this, I know that it’s still happening in some places. I know that we need to be vigilant and make sure that police officers have the training that will help them change their behaviour that’s engrained in them.”
Both Ford and Horwath reiterated that the practice would continue to be banned if they formed government.
The issue of how the provincial government will roll out the Federal government’s decision to legalize cannabis also was discussed.
Ford jabbed at a decision that was made recently to place a government-run cannabis store less than a kilometre from a school.
“You were on watch, it was beside a school under your watch, it was a few hundred yards away. So, it’s right beside schools; that’s unacceptable. I’ll promise you one thing, I’ll keep the kids safe and I won’t tolerate any impaired driving with anyone smoking marijuana. I’ll have zero tolerance.”
Wynne shot back that Ford planned to place marijuana in corner stores, something he denied. Horwath stressed that the NDP would review the Liberal government’s plans to ensure they get rid of the criminal element undercutting prices on legal marijuana. (File photo)
