How to Talk to Unions and Organizations DEFUND the Police By 50%
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.
Talking Points about Toronto Police Services
How much does the City and your tax dollars spend on police? TPS is the single largest expense item in Toronto’s budget. The 2020 TPS net operating budget is approximately $1.08 billion. This is more than the budget for Toronto Community Housing; shelters, support and housing services; transportation; employment and social services; and libraries combined.
Why Toronto policing levels are unacceptable and overfunding police is a problem? Police are not social workers, nurses, or educators yet police are often called to respond to roles. Would Regis Korchinski-Paquet still be alive if a mental health nurse had turned up when her family called 911 instead of just police officers? In Toronto there is an unacceptable level of policing and it’s time to question, if armed, highly paid officers are the right resource for a community need or function?
The Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2020 reported that systemic racism and oppression thrives in TPS. While Toronto Council doesn’t manage how the police budget is spent, the Council does control funding amounts. Less funds = less resources = less activity. We support Professor Akwasi Owusu-Bempah's call for “de-tasking the police to reduce the negative consequences of police engagement in unsuitable activities and reducing the police budget”.
Where should City funds go instead? We need direct and immediate investment in community services that work to meet everyone’s basic needs. Affordable housing, disability supports, childcare, food security initiatives, mental health resources, harm reduction sites, local jobs, restorative justice, community support.
A Note about Safety and “Crime”: Society tells us that police exist to protect us from crime. It's important to consider who decides and determines what is a crime and who benefits by that definition. Laws about theft, for example, are disproportionately punishing survival-motivated “crimes”, and a similar trend affects drug regulation and homelessness. Charging people for survival-motivated acts is a waste of resources and creates a gateway to increased surveillance, unjustified imprisonment and contact with the justice system.
Conversation Strategies
Use these prompts to tap into mutual interest and discuss how the values of Defunding the Police complement the values of the union/organization/business you’re talking to.
For Unions
It may seem contradictory to talk about defunding or detasking the police, because police have a collective agreement that governs their work. The Toronto Police Association is a non-profit organization, not a union, because police in Ontario are prohibited by law from forming a union. Across North American, “the agendas of police unions mostly reflect the interests of the institution (the police department) rather than those of the working class,” (Kristian Williams, Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, 2015). It is also important to note that the Toronto Police Association is not part of the Canadian Labour Congress, or the Ontario Federation of Labour, and both the CLC and OFL have declared support for defunding the police to divert funds to community needs. In Toronto, when police show up at unionized workers' lawful strikes, it is usually to protect the boss, not out of labour solidarity.
For Organizations
Look at the organization’s Values Statement to find out who they serve, and how they place themselves in society. If the organization is a non-profit, there is often an element of helping people. Discuss if the police have similar or opposing values. If the organization has a diversity statement, discuss how the police have a documented history of racial bias, and how alignment with police can signal alignment with unfair treatment of Black, Indigenous and racialized people. If the organization supports LGBTQ+ values, discuss No Pride in Policing and the history of Queer people being targeting by police. Research the organization’s Board of Directors and Funders to understand who the organization is accountable to, and who is financially invested. If the organization is municipally funded, talk about how arts, education and healthcare budgets continue to shrink, while the TPS budget continues to grow larger.
For Businesses
Take an economic approach. Ask the business owner if their tax dollars are serving them well by going to TPS. What municipal services are they missing because of lack of funding (sidewalk or road repair, garbage collection, etc.)?
Take a branding approach. Behind most businesses is a brand that appeals to consumers’ lifestyle choices and values systems. What kind of lifestyle and values are the business promoting? Are they promoting a culture of community care?
Take a neighbourhood approach. Consider where the business interacts with law enforcement, from the local park, to the alleyways, sidewalk, and street outside the business. Discuss the business’ policy for calling 911, and what services the business can call other than police (mental health services, women’s shelters, etc.). How well funded are those services? Discuss what is worth protecting: people, profits, product, property?
Main Talking Points
The call to defund the police by 50% and reinvest the funds into community services was issued by Black Lives Matter Toronto’s 2020 public demands, and I am asking you to join me to show your solidarity to prioritize the safety and well-being of our neighbours and community members who disproportionately bear the brunt of systemic racism, ongoing surveillance, criminalization, and violence in policing.
Policing levels are unacceptable. This messaging is rooted in a moral argument to acknowledge that police services are often used in situations that cause more harm than good. Police are not social workers, nurses, or educators yet police are often called to respond to fill those roles.
Police services are overfunded and services are underfunded. The experiences of Black, Indigenous, racialized, mad, disabled, homeless, migrant, sex worker, queer and trans communities who are targeted by police, along with the data, prove that police are unwilling and unprepared to keep Toronto residents safe. 4. To create real and meaningful change we must act and advocate. If you agree that the systemic oppression, criminalization, brutalization, and senseless death of Black, Indigenous, and other targeted communities at the hands of police is in fact an emergency - then we call on you to use everything in your power to demand change and lobby Toronto elected representative to respond.
The downloadable version includes hyperlinked resources.