The institutions of policing and prison are inherently racist because the historical origins of these institutions are tied in with the enslavement of people of African descent and Indigenous people.

Compassionate tools for addressing questions and concerns around the call for police defunding and abolition.

Your stance against policing is an important one. Unfortunately, it can make you a target for harassment, intimidation, and possibly vandalization. We would like to share a few tips with you to help you keep safe and handle conflicts that may arise.

This document is a tool to help you to talk to unions, businesses and organizations in your community to demand that the 2021 City budget: defund the Toronto Police Service (TPS) by at least 50%, and immediately redirect those funds to community public services.

When starting a conversation, it’s important to find points of common ground to start from. For example, something that is shared across different individuals and groups: we all want to be safe in our communities and have our needs meet.

Your voice, story, and personal pitch help Council to know better. We are asking Toronto City Council to do better with our taxes, meet urgent needs in communities and create positive change to address systemic and institutional racism.

The resource list below is intended to help support you in having conversations with your friends, family, and community about Defunding the Police. This list is by no means exhaustive!