OTTAWA -- Senator Lillian Dyck is calling for RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki to resign or be fired after her comments on systemic racism within the national police force.
鈥淐ommissioner Brenda Lucki鈥檚 statements in the last few days reveal that she does not possess the necessary knowledge or skills to remain as the RCMP Commissioner. She should step down or be removed immediately. This will benefit all Canadians, including the members of the RCMP,鈥� Dyck said in a statement Monday.
On Friday, two days after telling 麻豆影视 that she struggled with 鈥渇ive or six鈥� definitions of systemic racism, Lucki acknowledged that the RCMP is grappling with a long history of racial discrimination.
鈥淚 did acknowledge that we, like others, have racism in our organization, but I did not say definitively that systemic racism exists in the RCMP. I should have,鈥� Lucki said in a written statement.
Lucki's statement came after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau contradicted her on the subject, and after the emergence of police dashcam footage that appears to show an RCMP officer punching and tackling an Alberta First Nations chief during an arrest in March.
Dyck said that Lucki鈥檚 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� comments indicate that she doesn鈥檛 understand what systemic racism is and therefore will be unable to lead the RCMP through the changes that need to be made to eliminate it.
In an interview with CTV鈥檚 Power Play, Dyck said 鈥測ou could get whiplash鈥� from the commissioner's remarks, and said that she does not trust Lucki to make any significant changes to the RCMP.
A member of the Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan, Dyck is the first female First Nations senator, the first Canadian-born Chinese senator, and was
Citing a promise Lucki made during the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to 鈥渄o better,鈥� Dyck said that Lucki 鈥渄oes not possess the knowledge or leadership skills to keep her promise.鈥�
鈥淐ommissioner Brenda Lucki should resign or be removed immediately, so that Canadians can get the best possible RCMP Commissioner who is capable of doing the best work not only in Indigenous communities but in all communities,鈥� Dyck said.
Despite her remarks, Trudeau has said he still has confidence in Lucki's leadership and ability to follow through on police reform in the coming months.
In a separate interview on CTV鈥檚 Power Play, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called Lucki鈥檚 comments 鈥渄eeply troubling鈥� and said that, even if the commissioner was replaced, it wouldn't change the government's inaction on addressing problems in policing.
鈥淚f the government is not willing to review the use of force, or de-escalation, or legislate an end to racial profiling, then it doesn't matter who the commissioner is,鈥� Singh said.
With files from 麻豆影视鈥� Graham Slaughter and Sarah Turnbull
