Community News
Solidarity builds between diverse groups to fight against racism, hate and intolerance
BY PAUL JUNOR
The death of 29-year-old Regis Korchinski-Paquet on Wednesday, May 27th has triggered many unanswered questions.
Regis fell 24 floors to her death from the balcony of her high-rise building at 100 Hyde Park. In a prepared statement from her lawyer Knia Snigh, he indicated that her mother Claudette Korchinski made a 911 call to the police in order to seek help to deal with a family conflict. The family is seeking answers to explain the events that caused Regis to plunge to her death.
The unfortunate death of this young African-Canadian of Ukrainian and Nova Scotian background has sent shockwaves through Toronto. The devastated family members are still reeling in the aftermath. Her death has brought negative attention on the Toronto Police Department in the wake of many high-profile incidents, which have occurred over the years. Police Chief Mark Saunders was quick to respond and asked that there be no rush to judgment before all the facts and details are released.
The Ontario Police Watchdog, the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) have already launched an investigation and have interviewed witnesses. Officers who were involved with the case will be subsequently interviewed and this will no doubt take many months to obtain all the pertinent details.
A coalition of different community groups called “Not Another Black Life,” were responsible for organizing the anti-black and anti-indigenous racism rally on Saturday, May 28th at 2:00 pm which proceeded from Christie Pits Park and was originally planned to end near the Ontario Legislature. The end of the march was changed to the Toronto Police Headquarters at 40 College Street. The Justice for Regis rally was intended to bring attention to the issue of police brutality and to demand an immediate inquest into her death.
Approximately 4,000 people participated in the rally. Police Chief, Mark Saunders showed up at Christie Pit Parks to see what was happening and he stated, “I just want to make sure that everything was okay. When we look around and see the things that are happening, ideally you would hope that there’s an opportunity that people take time to hear everything and base their actions on the truth and then figure out where collectively as a city, we can move forward.”
On May 30th, Mayor John Tory reacted to the rally by posting on Twitter his support for the spirit of the rally. He tweeted, “Today, thousands of people marched peacefully in our city to register a total rejection of anti-black and anti-indigenous racism. This is a cause shared by all of us and the answer to the March will come through our collective actions to combat this racism.”
As the family waits for answers, and as the SIU investigates, there are many unanswered questions. It followed the death of D’Andre Campbell who suffered from mental illness at the hands of Peel police at his home in Brampton and Pardeep Mann in Scarborough who fell off a balcony when police came to arrest him. Desmond Cole has documented the deaths of 27 black, indigenous and racialized people who were killed by Canadian police in the last few years.
Despite the threat of policing during these states of emergencies, black and indigenous communities across North America refuse to be silenced and continue to organize to protect lives and to resist state violence. There is much hope that activism and advocacy will increase as solidarity builds between diverse groups to fight against racism, hate and intolerance.