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Why Did the Vancouver Police Board Hide Racism in VPD ranks?

By Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and Harsha Walia

A shorter version of this op-ed was published in the Vancouver Sun on November 26, 2020.

The Vancouver Police Board is tasked with providing civilian governance and oversight over one of the most powerful institutions in our city. When any Vancouverite wants to complain about the policies of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD), the Police Board is responsible for addressing these complaints. Our organizations made such a complaint regarding racist police street checks. After revelations in this paper last week, we are outraged at the conduct of the Police Board in handling our complaint and we demand a complete ban on street checks.

News Release 
November 26, 2020

FNLC Marks the One Year Anniversary of the Passage of Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and Calls for Substantive Action

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) Today the First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) acknowledges the one-year anniversary since British Columbia became the first province in Canada and one of the first jurisdictions in the world to enshrine the human rights of Indigenous peoples in law. Bill 41, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (Declaration Act), was passed unanimously on November 26, 2019.

NEWS RELEASE
November 25, 2020

COVID-19 and Opioid Crisis Cases out of Control: FNLC calls on the Government of BC to Implement Further Measures to Combat Dual Pandemics

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ  (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) — The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is calling on the government of British Columbia to take increased and immediate action to fully address the COVID-19 pandemic and the equally devastating opioid crisis. Existing public health orders and measures being taken to prevent and respond to positive COVID-19 cases have not yet been successful in flattening the curve. We cannot afford to have COVID-19 cases to continue to rise exponentially in British Columbia.

News Release
November 24, 2020

UBCIC Supports Call for ABC Network to Acknowledge and Address MMIWG Crisis

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – November 24, 2020) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) joins Indigenous organizations and Tribal Leaders who are calling on the ABC Network to address and rectify its incomplete depiction of violence against women and girls in its primetime thriller Big Sky. Despite being set in Montana, the show fails to acknowledge that the disproportionate majority of missing and murdered women and girls there are Indigenous.

Statement
November 20, 2020

UBCIC Observes the Transgender Day of Remembrance

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil- Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – November 20, 2020) Today the Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) observes the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR) and remembers the transgender lives lost to and deeply damaged by transphobia, violence, hate, and prejudice. UBCIC stands in solidarity with Indigenous and non-Indigenous transgender and gender-diverse communities whose immense strength and resilience continues to inspire Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island in their fight for dignity and equality.

News Release 
November 6, 2020

FNLC Fully Supports Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation’s Road Restrictions in Response to Decades of Exploitation by Western Forest Products

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) – The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) stands with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN) who are currently restricting access to a portion of Highway 28 that trespasses upon Ahaminiquus Indian Reserve Number 12, between Gold River and its port. The MMFN has been forced to impose this restriction in response to Western Forest Products Inc.’s (WFP) ongoing use of their lands without consent and the tactics WFP have employed to avoid compensating the MMFN for the use of their road for over 20 years.

News Release
October 27, 2020

UBCIC Congratulates NDP for their Historic Win and Calls for Pivotal Action to Advance Indigenous Title and Rights     

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – October 27, 2020) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) congratulates Premier John Horgan and the NDP for securing a historic victory on election night that will see them form a majority NDP government for the first time in over 20 years, and is calling for immediate joint action on Indigenous priorities.

News Release
October 22, 2020

UBCIC Statement on Lobster Fishery and RCMP Inaction to Protect the Mi’kmaq from Violence

((Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C. – October 22, 2020) The Union of BC Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is enraged about the blatant illegality of the RCMP indifference to violence against the Mi’kmaq in Nova Scotia.  The failure to act to keep the peace and secure the rights and safety of the Mi’kmaq people is a clear dereliction of duty.