at tonight's @tdsb meeting, some trustees may recommend bringing cops back into schools, or otherwise strengthening ties between police and schools

I'll be live-tweeting after 6 PM when the item comes up

a reminder on the removal of SROs in 2017: cbc.ca/news/canada/to… the meeting is live, let's get caught up. after recent concerns about violence in TDSB schools, we've been hearing that certain trustees want to bring police back to TDSB schools

@enitoronto fought to cancel the SRO program—here's a letter they shared: docs.google.com/document/u/0/d…

Wendy Mesley is really trying this "I'm angry at myself for hurting people" bit?

this "I wanna be judged for my whole career, but not for two moments" bit?

Mesley's history is more than two "moments", but people don't want to risk their careers at CBC to give more details I've heard many more stories about Mesley's behaviour at CBC towards Black people and other POC. if she's so clueless that she didn't know it was wrong to say "nigger", which is pretty obvious, she must not have any clue about the many other racist things she's said and done

provincial opposition parties should be demanding that the premier repeal his police order

only @MikeSchreiner has done so

@AndreaHorwath and @StevenDelDuca offer thoughts and prayers, but haven't said revoke the order thoughts and prayers
municipal edition
feat. @m_layton, @gordperks, @kristynwongtam, and @johntory

the police have always maintained that their stops are never "random". when they say "we won't do random stops," they're saying every time they stop someone, it will be for a good reason

the word "random" is not in the government order. this isn't the victory people think it is the police literally create and dictate the law when they engage people. they decide what is a "random" stop and what is a necessary one, not us. cops can say "we will not engage in illegal activity" cause THEY don't deem their own behaviour to be illegal, ever.

today @johntory and @tpsboard will meet to do what they always do: give the police more money and power. the proposals they'll pass today don't even pretend to address police killings, assaults, surveillance, and harassment. the best example? mandatory anti-racism training the proposal for annual anti-racism training shifts the focus away from systemic police power to kill and harm us with impunity, and falsely re-frames police racism as an individual failing, as personal responsibility

it's not about who they are, it's about the power they use

former toronto police chief and super-creep julian fantino has written a piece today saying we should bring back police carding in ontario. I just wanna make sure everyone who follows me understands clearly that carding has never gone away—be wary of anyone who says otherwise I’m sorry but who actually believes the police in toronto, or across ontario, have stopped approaching black folks, indigenous folks, and other people of colour without probable cause??? who could even entertain that? only those who don't know our lives and/or don't care

the other day I overheard three older folks on the streetcar talking about fare inspection. I listened for a while and at one point asked them if they'd support getting rid of fare inspectors. one of the men said "I actually think there should be more of them" me: more people policing the poor?

dude: well I don't mean it like that

me: but what do we do about all the people who actually can't afford the ttc but rely on it to live?

dude: I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead. I just think everyone should pay the fare

so I made a new friend 😂 for real tho, to the white folx replying to this by saying "they never stop me because I'm white..." what are you doing to help the rest of us? WHAT'S THE POINT OF IDENTIFYING YOUR PRIVILEGE IF YOU DON'T USE IT?

It's unacceptable that kristyn wong-tam has faced death threats and online harassment. at the same time, this response really paints the discrimination so many torontonians have experienced for decades as something brand new, which it is not. nowtoronto.com/news/toronto-p… we can't seriously talk about the "trumping" of toronto politics" as something recent. rob ford was elected mayor of this city in 2010. white supremacists have proudly been running in our municipal elections for decades. we have to stop describing this as some foreign contagion

on this date two years ago, @torontopolice officer michael theriault and his brother christian attacked dafonte miller, then 19 years old, with a metal pipe. police in toronto and durham conspired to cover up the crime, and charged dafonte with assault the theriault brothers, who were sitting in their father’s garage in whitby, ontario, chased dafonte and his friends, who were walking at night minding their business. michael theriault was not on duty. the beating led to dafonte being hospitalized—he ultimately lost his left eye

.@YRDSB trustee-elect elizabeth terrell-tracey is refusing to step down after making racist comments about her guyanese opponent lena singh. terrell-tracy warned voters that "we need a trustee born in canada" and "crime is prevalent across guyana." yorkregion.com/news-story/892… terrell-tracey initially lied and said someone hacked her account. then she defended the comments. terrell-tracey then announced her resignation, but changed her mind the next day. sound familiar? nancy elgie made a similar play only last year at @YRDSB
thestar.com/opinion/commen…

I hate when this happens

https://twitter.com/jpags/status/1034543343089471504

seriously though, stop acting surprised at the politicking of the toronto police. if you are genuinely shocked, keep that to yourself. every day we tell you, and every day you are surprised anew. I wanna see the same energy in confronting the obvious politicization of our police

this thread identifies the conservative MPPs who want to interfere toronto's ongoing 2018 election. contact them all day, every day, until they withdraw legislation to mess with toronto's vote

***USE ALL PHONE NUMBERS AND ADDRESSES***
#OurCityHall #TOpoli #ONpoli STEVE CLARK
(Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes)
@SteveClarkPC
e-mail: minister.mah@ontario.ca

Queens Park: 416-585-7000
Brockville office: 613-342-9522

Constituency office address:
Suite 101
100 Strowger Boulevard
Brockville, Ontario
K6V 5J9
#OurCityHall

good morning toronto. let's be clear about what dutty dug ford is announcing today: he wants to redraw our city's electoral boundaries three months before the election. we know this is wrong and, more importantly, we have every ability to stop it nominations for mayor and city council close in six hours. dutty dug wants all those who've registered to wait several more weeks before even knowing where they're running, while he changes every electoral district to his liking. we can and must say no to this corrupt plan

there's a major error in the first line of this story and we need to talk about it. @robferguson1 and @robertbenzie write that michael tibollo was called a racist for his absurd bulletproof vest stunt. yet the article doesn't cite anyone calling tibollo a racist NDP leader andrea horwath and MPP kevin yarde both refer to tibollo's comments in the house as racist, but don't ascribe the word to him personally. it's inaccurate and confusing to suggest a phantom person is calling yarde a racist when the critiques dealt with his language

I'm at a @tdsb committee meeting where the police in schools (SRO) program is on the agenda. staff have recommended cancelling the program. a decision by this committee is the next step. follow me for updates naima raza of @TOYouthCabinet asks why the @tdsb has ignored voices of those harmed by the SRO program. "why are we asking officers to do the work of the social worker, the teacher, the community organization?"