toronto protest

Thousands protest in Toronto demanding justice for Regis Korchinski-Paquet

Thousands of people took to the streets of downtown Toronto Saturday afternoon in response to the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet

Just two days after the 29-year-old woman fell from a Toronto highrise while police were on the scene, masked protestors gathered to demand answers surrounding her death and to call for the end of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism worldwide. 

The event was organized by Not Another Black Life, a group formed shortly after Korchinski-Paquet's death. 

Rallyers first gathered in Christie Pits this afternoon. The protest originally intended to make its way to Queen's Park, but given it was already being occupied by anti-lockdown protestors, the walk ended at the Toronto Police Headquarters at College and Bay instead. 

According to the event's Facebook group, masks were mandatory at the protest, and indeed the vast majority of attendees today wore face coverings

Thousands chanted and held signs saying "Black Lives Matter", "Protect Black Women" and "Justice For Regis". 

Korchinski-Paquet's death Wednesday is still being investigated by Ontario's police watchdog following claims from her family that she was pushed off the apartment balcony by Toronto Police. 

Not Another Black Life's demands include an independent investigation of the matter, oversight of the Special Investigations Unit, and for officers who were on the scene to be criminally charged.

The 29-year-old's death is not an isolated incident when it comes to problematic policing in Black communities in Ontario. In April, a 26-year-old Black man named D'Andre Campbell was fatally shot by Peel police. In 2016, Peel officers also handcuffed a six-year-old Black girl at her school. 

Coupled with the Amy Cooper incident, the unfolding riots in the United States sparked by the murder of George Floyd and other publicized killings Black civilians like Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor in the last few months alone has sparked similar anti-Black racism protests across Canada.

Lead photo by

Martin Reis


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