Decriminalization, Defunding & Detasking

It is not enough to ensure fairness in the criminal justice process – our ideas of ‘crime’ and ‘safety’ need to be critically examined as well. Our work on decriminalization and defunding and detasking police aims to confront the ways in which the criminal justice system causes harm to vulnerable populations and acts as a tool discrimination and oppression.

The history of Canada’s criminal justice system is rife with examples of the criminal law having been used to oppress and discriminate against marginalized communities. Examples include Canada’s long history of criminalizing Indigenous peoples’ cultural practices, including prohibitions targeting traditional dance ceremonies, powwows, and potlaches; the criminalization of homosexuality; and the Canadian legal response to sex work, which has been riddled with discrimination based on class, race, gender, and other markers of identity. The actions of vulnerable individuals are also often criminalized in a bid to ‘protect’ them – a generally counterproductive and harmful response.

CCLA believes that the criminal law should be used as sparingly as possible, and works to ensure that vulnerable, marginalized communities are not exposed in unnecessary harms through its operation.

Our over-reliance on the police is also damaging marginalized communities and deepening systemic injustice. Over ten percent of police use of force incidents occur in the course of a police response to a mental health crisis – resulting in many tragic examples of individuals who needed help being shot and killed. An enormous amount of time is spent policing individuals experiencing homelessness and youth – both populations that would be better served by civilian-led social service responses. The harms of a police response are disproportionately felt by over-policed communities, including Black persons, Indigenous persons, and members of other racialized communities, who are more likely to be stopped, questioned, arrested and killed by police. CCLA works in partnership with impacted communities to rethinking our reliance on the police and critique our collective vision of community safety.