Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart calls for province to review policing across B.C.
In the wake of protests in Vancouver calling for systemic changes to the Vancouver Police Department, Mayor Kennedy Stewart is calling for a comprehensive review of all policing in the province.
"If we are to make major structural changes to policing, it is the province that must act," said Stewart in his speech.
"I believe [the province] will take up this call to ensure this review includes an investigation of systemic racism and disproportional violence experienced by Black and Indigenous community members."
The provincial government did not immediately respond for comment.
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Mayor says hands are tied on budget
Stewart made his remarks a week after the Vancouver Police Board rejected city council's request for a one per cent cut to its $340 million budget this year.
That rejection was originally made last month in light of city-wide financial pressures stemming from COVID-19. But discussion of the VPD's budget has taken on a new dynamic after the killing last month of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, by a local police officer in Minneapolis, Minn.
Stewart is both chair of city council and the police board — which aside from him, is made up of unelected citizens appointed by the province.
"The province's Police Act requires us to more or less rubber-stamp police budgets outside minimal discretionary spending," said Stewart, who made no mention if council would ask for cuts during the normal yearly budget process.
"So while many U.S. cities, including Minneapolis, can massively restructure their police, neither organizations which I chair can legally do this — even if they wanted to."
The mayor declined to directly answer a question on whether he thought the budget should be lowered.
"Whether I agree or disagree with the budget, it's my ability to make change that's important."