Nova Scotia RCMP prepare apology for street checks

RCMP in Nova Scotia are putting the finishing touches on an apology the force will deliver this fall to the province's Black communities.

The apology is for street checks and other harmful interactions between police and people of African descent in Nova Scotia. It follows a series of 13 meetings across the province in African Nova Scotian communities, including Beechville, Preston, Upper Hammonds Plains and Yarmouth.

The meetings began in September of last year and ended in January. RCMP have drawn up an action plan based on those consultations, which they plan to take back to those communities prior to delivering the apology. The consultations included an advisory committee made up of community members.

The apology is set for Sept. 7 in the North Preston Community Centre. It will also be live streamed to other communities across the province.

In a statement, Assistant Commissioner Dennis Daley said the action plan that is being developed is even more important than the apology because it will outline a path forward.

This whole process can be traced back to a CBC investigation in 2017, which showed that people of African heritage in the Halifax area were three times more likely to be stopped by police than others. That was followed by a study by Dr. Scot Wortley, that was released in 2019. It showed the number was actually six times more likely.

Later that year, Halifax Regional Police, the other force that patrols the Nova Scotia capital, issued its own apology for street checks.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.