defund the police toronto

Toronto just voted not to defund the police

After several weeks of protests and calls for defunding, Toronto city council has decided not to cut the 2021 Toronto Police Services budget but instead move forward with various reforms.

Council members voted against Councillor Josh Matlow's motion of a 10 per cent cut to the Toronto Police Services budget that would've amounted to roughly $122 million in funding. The final vote was 8 for defunding and 16 against.

Calls to defund the police and reallocate it to community services came after multiple protests demanding action be taken to protect racialized communities that are often the target of police.

City council did not vote to defund the police, but instead voted to give itself more power over future police budget matters.

A motion to establish more accountability for police officers also passed, but a proposal to create a non-police emergency response alternative was not picked up.

The latter came out of calls from community members and experts that say police shouldn't be the ones responding to people with mental health issues after Regis Korchinski-Paquet fell to her death while police were responding to a call at her High Park residence.

The city voted in favour of asking the province to reexamine how it treats police accused of serious misconduct and have police investigated by an independent body rather than the police themselves.

Council voted to implement body-worn cameras for all police officers by January 1 and Mayor John Tory's motion to direct the city manager, in consultation with TPS, to develop further methods of police reform also passed.

Lead photo by

Hector Vasquez


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