E-mail remains secret

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The Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is refusing to release an e-mail described as racist against Aboriginal people, despite calls from Native leaders to do so.

A June report in the Edmonton Journal said the e-mail contains a list of 10 rules for policing the downtown area. Three of the rules disparage the Native population.

Acting EPS chief Daryl da Costa received initial praise from Aboriginal leaders for his swift and decisive response to the e-mail and his strong statement that officers with racist attitudes should quit the force. Da Costa has also ordered an internal investigation.

Aboriginal leaders now, however, are calling for the EPS to go further and release the e-mail to the public as a show of good faith.

They are also renewing calls for community involvement in the review process of police misconduct.

"I would like to thank the acting chief for his quick action in this incident," said Jason Goodstriker, regional chief of Alberta for the Assembly of First Nations.

"I would also like to convey the concerns of my people living in the city of Edmonton that may be suffering from the effects of systemic racism in the EPS and racial profiling by individual police officers."

He said the e-mail in question should be made public so that people can judge for themselves the action it warrants.

Muriel Stanley-Venne, president of the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women, said she is writing the EPS and the Edmonton Police Commission to ask for the release of the e-mail.

Stanley-Venne said that not releasing the e-mail reminds Aboriginal people they have no involvement with investigations of the police service that deal with Aboriginal people.

Stanley-Venne also said that by releasing the e-mail the Aboriginal community could have confidence that the EPS is dealing with this issue.

"We all have our bad apples and we certainly have the maturity to know that things can go wrong on both sides,"

Spokesperson Roger Laing of the Edmonton Police Commission said the organization could not advocate for the e-mail to be released because the commission may have to rule on it in the upcoming internal investigation.

Lewis Cardinal, who sits on the mayor's advisory committee on multiculturalism, said the EPS needs more training to deal with Aboriginal people and issues.

"They need more Aboriginal awareness. They need more cross-cultural training. And the third element is they need cultural competency training," he said.

"They used to have Aboriginal awareness training. I know that because I did presentations for them. As far as I know they no longer have that. It is interesting that there is an increase in that (racist) sort of behavior now that the training has gone away."

Cardinal said the e-mail should be made public.

"That will show the kind of crap we have to deal with."