Toronto mayor asks for patience as SIU investigation into Regis Korchinski-Paquet death continues

Toronto Mayor John Tory asked for patience in the investigation into the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, but also acknowledged the frustration at the current lack of answers in a case that many consider emblematic of the ongoing conflict between the city's black community and its police force.

"I hope we don't have to wait too long, but we have to wait to get those answers.... I just hope they can come up with the answers that everybody deserves, starting with the family, as soon as possible," Tory told Checkup host Duncan McCue.

Korchinski-Paquet's family said what began as a 911 call for help, ended in her death. The 29-year-old woman apparently fell from the balcony of a 24th-floor Toronto apartment while police were in the home on Wednesday. 

An investigation into the incident is under way by the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario's police watchdog.

On Saturday the family's lawyer said family members are now "waiting on evidence from the investigation before any further conclusions can be made," adding that statements made prior to May 28 are not part of the official Korchinski-Paquet statement.

Tory said he was "proud" of the "spirit of solidarity" displayed by the thousands of people who marched through downtown Toronto on Saturday to demand answers about Korchinski-Paquet's death, while also speaking out against anti-black and anti-Indigenous racism around the world.

"There are people — and they're not confined to people in the black community — feeling a sense of hurt and anguish and of emotional exhaustion over, you know, things that happen in the city and in this country."

The march in Toronto took place the same week as protests and clashes with police flared in dozens of cities across the United States after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Floyd, a black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer named Derek Chauvin pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, but protesters are demanding charges against the other three officers who were on the scene. All four were fired.

Toronto writer and activist Desmond Cole says Canadian coverage of the protests in the U.S. may have inadvertently helped put a greater spotlight on racism issues at home — issues that typically get swept under the rug.

"What our media has been doing in this country for the last week, is that we have been really, really interested in anti-black racism, and responses to George Floyd's death in particular, in the United States. Why are we so interested? Because it absolves us of having to talk about it here," Cole told McCue.

Cole said that Canada often brushes aside "its own history of colonialism and white supremacy" by saying that things aren't as bad here as they are south of the border.

Meanwhile, the police's relationship with black Canadians remains one of "dominance, control and power," he said.

Cole expressed skepticism at Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders's plea for patience as the SIU conduct their investigation into Korchinski-Paquet's death.

"I would say that in my experience covering these kinds of stories, it is a very, very low chance that officers will be charged, because that would rely on police officers saying that a fellow police officer did something wrong. And we all know also that the SIU is full of former police officers," he said.

According to the SIU's 2018 annual report, the unit closed a total of 416 cases that calendar year with 15 (or 3.6 per cent) of those cases resulting in charges against a total of 17 officers.

Tory disagreed with Cole's assessment of the SIU, reasserting that it is a provincial body that operates independently from municipal police organizations.

He also touted the city's anti-black racism action plan, which launched in 2017 to address racism as it relates not only to policing but other aspects as well including housing and economic opportunities.

"That to me is a significant step in and of itself because it says we're admitting that in this country ... we think sometimes that doing better means it's good enough. And it's not. We have to do better to wipe out this kind of racism and discrimination," he said.

Written by Jonathan Ore with files from CBC Toronto and The Associated Press. Interviews produced by Kirthana Sasitharan and Steve Howard.