BLAC Board of Directors’ Statement to Members and the Community
To the Members and Community of the Black Legal Action Centre The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) is a non-profit community legal clinic, funded by Legal Aid Ontario, with a mandate to provide free legal services for low-income Black residents of Ontario. BLAC’s mission is to educate, advocate, and litigate to combat individual and systemic […]
BLAC Statement of Solidarity and Condemnation of Police Brutality
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of D’Andre Campbell and Soleiman Faqiri as we process the incredibly difficult, but unsurprising news that their killers will not be held accountable for egregious abuses of power. The experiences of both point to a disturbing trend of the mishandling of matters involving individuals struggling with […]
BLAC statement on the acquittal of Constable Daniel Montsion in the death of Abdirahman Abdi
We are deeply disappointed that yet another police officer has eluded conviction for killing a Black man. Justice Robert Kelly’s recent verdict that found Constable Daniel Montsion not guilty of all charges in the killing of Abdirahman Abdi, causes angst and pain for many Somali, Black and other communities across Canada still reeling from a […]
BLAC and ARCH’s joint letter to the Solicitor General on the death of Regis Korchinski Paquet
Dear Solicitor General Jones: Re: Investigation into the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet We are writing on behalf of the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) and ARCH Disability Law Centre (ARCH) to demand for an independent investigation into the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet. Ms. Korchinski- Paquet, a Black-Indigenous woman, fell 24 storeys to her death in […]
Statement on Ontario Provincial Police decision to not lay charges in the death of Soleiman Faqiri
We are deeply distressed by the failure of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to lay charges against the correctional officers at the Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) after the death of Soleiman Faqiri. On December 15, 2016, Mr. Faqiri, a 30 year old man with schizophrenia, who was caged in a segregation unit, died after […]
BLAC Statement on Protests of Statutes
An uprising is taking place in Canada and throughout the world. The voices of Black, Indigenous and racialized groups are being raised and joined in unison by the community at large. We are demanding transformative change. We are demanding an equitable Canadian society. To achieve this equity, and take meaningful steps towards a just society […]
BLAC Statement on Policing and Anti-Black Racism
Over the past weeks, Canadians have witnessed what members of the Black community have experienced for generations: the horrific mistreatment of Black people by the police. Our communities have long been hyper-surveilled and over policed; our minds and bodies have long been subjected to inhumanity, cruelty, violence and even death. Our experiences of violence have […]
BLAC Submissions on Bill 161
BLAC is concerned that Bill 161, Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, 2020 proposes to change LAO’s core mandate of promoting access to justice for low-income Ontario residents. At this critical time, BLAC believes that this will have a negative impact on the Black community and will create a further crisis of access to justice that […]
BLAC Statement on the Education System and the Peel District School Board Review
BLAC’s work over the past year has confirmed for us that educational institutions continue to be spaces for the perpetuation of horrendous anti-Black racism. Like others in our community who have worked on these issues for years, we also understand that reports, investigations into or reviews of the school system or boards, whether they be […]
An Open Letter to Ontario Mayors and Police Chiefs re: Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act
BLAC calls on provincial and municipal governments to be proactive during this challenging time and commit to ensuring that the emergency measures are not misused and/or applied in a discriminatory manner. We strongly urge all levels of government to ensure that any measures taken are in accordance with Canada’s international human rights obligations and domestic […]