Racism
and Police Impunity Former Police Officer Appointed Minister Responsible for Indigenous Affairs in Quebec
- Christine Dandenault -  
Those demanding justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and
girls, redress in cases of racist treatment of Indigenous people, as in
the case of Joyce Echaquan, and many others who have been victims of
police violence, have denounced the October 9 appointment by Quebec
Premier François Legault of Ian
Lafrenière as the new Minister of Aboriginal
Affairs. Lafrenière is a
former police officer who made a name for himself in Quebec as a
communications and media relations officer for the Montreal Police
Service (SPVM). His role has always been to prettify police activities
denounced by the people. Currently the member of
the National Assembly for Vachon and Parliamentary Assistant to the
Minister of Public Safety, Lafrenière defended the SPVM's
repression, teargassing and brutal arrests of students and their allies
in the spring of 2012 . In 2015, when
Cégep de Maisonneuve was labelled a potential nesting ground
for youth radicalization because of the large number of Muslim
students, Lafrenière justified the presence of police at the
Cégep. In June 2016, he was transferred
to the Intelligence Directorate of the SPVM. He was also a Reserve
Public Affairs Officer for the Canadian Army and then became a trainer
for UNESCO, working in several African countries. He has also taken
part in police training missions in Tunisia, Somalia, Rwanda, Mali,
Senegal, Ivory Coast, The Gambia and Ukraine.
More
recently, on the tragedy involving the racist treatment of Joyce
Echaquan prior to her death in hospital, his stance of not recognizing
racial profiling and the inherent racism of the state has been
denounced by many organizations. According to Lafrenière, it
is "too early" to say the case revealed racism in the health care
system. In the opinion of the victims of state
racism and police brutality, the appointment of Lafrenière
as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs adds insult to injury and shows that
the people cannot expect justice from a system whose police powers are
deployed against them.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 40 - October 24, 2020
Article Link:
Racism
and Police Impunity: Former Police Officer Appointed Minister Responsible for Indigenous Affairs in Quebec - Christine Dandenault
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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