'Defund the police' protests to hit Canadian cities this Saturday

The movement to defund the police across Canada has reignited, with protests planned across Canadian cities, including Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa.

“This event, it’s been organized by groups and organizations from all across the country. We all got together and decided we needed to stage something bigger to get more people’s attention and to try and get people to understand that we’re not just going to take this lying down,” said Gal Harper, an event organizer, to Global News.

Harper says that the event is to educate the public about the call to defund police, as some have called the term itself divisive.

“I’ve had conversations with some who suggest alternative wording — perhaps using the word ‘reform’ would be easier for people to get on board with. But we need to do this. The terminology and language is accurate, we do need to defund the police, so this event is about education,” Harper said.

Experts have criticized the language used, noting that the use of the word "defund" muddles the goal. Rather than the abolition of police, which other left wing activists indeed call for, activists say the call for defunding looks to distribute city funding with a greater focus on mental health.

"[The] police are out of control and we need to actually do something to make the police more accountable and to make them really be concerned with public safety for all people, not just white people,” said civil rights expert and director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California John Powell.

Unfortunately, some cities across Canada have seen well-intentioned rallies turn violent, with protests being hijacked by blackblock and Antifa activists.

As participants in Montreal saw in June, looting, projectiles, and violence turned the entire situation on its head. Stores were robbed, and nearly a dozen were arrested.

The Montreal protest was organized by Justice for Victims of Police Killings, and was in solidarity with those protests that have been a nightly occurrence in some US cities since May 26, the night after George Floyd's death.