Address root problems to combat racism in Montreal, urges RDP activist

Since adolescence, Dexter Xurukulasuriyahasbeen subject to racial discrimination by police.

"I've been subject to verbal abuseand anti-immigrant racism," saidXurukulasuriya, who uses the gender-neutral pronoun they. "An officer said, 'It's my country, it's not yours. Go home.'"

Xurukulasuriya testified at the first full day of hearings at Montreal's first public consultation into systemic racism and discrimination Tuesday.

The Office de consultation publique de Montral (OCPM) launched the consultation after human rights advocates gathered 20,000 signatures on a petition demanding the consultations happen.

Once, Xurukulasuriya said,they werepicked out of a crowd of white teens and ticketed for jaywalking. Another time, their head smashed in by a police officer, who broke their hand.

Xurukulasuriya says their experience with racial discrimination is not uniquenor an extreme example.

"It happens to a lot of us," said Xurukulasuriya, who was the first to testify.

Police who engage in racism and brutality should face heavier consequences than they do now, they told the five-person commission.

"Not sensitivity training," Xurukulasuriya said. "Police who lie should be fired;police who engage in police brutality should be charged. They should be held accountable."

'Take time to dialogue'

Eleven people testified for various community, activist and cultural groups, and two, including Xurukulasuriya, testified as citizens. Groups representingpeople withdisabilities andimmigrant communities and people of colour proposed solutions to thediscrimination their members face daily.

Pierreson Vaval, who's been working withacommunity group calledquipe RDPfor 22 years, said the most effective way to fight systemic racism is by engaging in dialogue.

"The people working [in state organizations] should be linked to the community," Vaval said. "The secret is time. You need to take time to dialogue with your community and to reach out to all the people and the most vulnerable people."

That's the way to come up with workable solutions for our increasingly diverse society, he said.

Systemic racism starts withroot issues likeaccessto basic living standards, he testified.

In a recent case in Rivire-des-Prairies, he said, a social housing building moved its tenants with large families into smaller apartments due to a vermin problem.

Since their new homes were too crowded,Vaval said, young people wanting to socialize went outside to hang out with their friends,which then garnered complaints to police from neighbours, opening the possibility for discrimination.

"We don't address the problem, which is that the HLM isn't adapted to the needs of these young people and their families," Vaval said. "[The city] needs to change these systems to make them more flexible; to adapt to new realities."

The hearings will go on until Dec. 4.