It is expected that Anti-racism protesters gather at different venues in Canada again to protest the death of George Floyd, racism and police violence against Black people.
The protests started last week in Minneapolis, United States of America, where the 46-year-old Floyd was killed after a white cop knelt on his neck for over eight minutes during an arrest.
Floyd’s death has propelled protests that have spread across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Canada and other countries.
Thousands of demonstrators protested peacefully on the streets of Toronto on Friday, chanting “I can’t breathe,” “No justice, no peace” and “Black Lives Matter.”
In Ottawa, protesters went to Parliament Hill and they were joined there by the Prime Minister. When the crowd observed silence for the time Floyd was pinned down by the officer, the Prime Minister put one knee to the ground and bowed his head.
While speaking to reporters on Friday, Trudeau labelled the recent reports of police violence against indigenes of Canada as “disturbing,” and said the cases must be “investigated properly.”
He said: “I think far too many Canadians feel fear and anxiety at the sight of law enforcement officers and authorities of various ways because we have continued to have systemic racism in this country, systemic discrimination that means Indigenous Canadians, racialized Canadians are vulnerable in these situations.”
Though Trudeau was not particular as to which reports he was talking about, it should be recalled that an RCMP officer in Nunavut was caught hitting a 22-year-old Inuk man with the door of a moving truck on camera earlier this week. Also, a 26-year-old First Nations mother was shot dead in New Brunswick by the police.
He added: “Over the past weeks, we’ve seen a large number of Canadians suddenly awaken to the fact that the discrimination that is a lived reality for far too many of our fellow citizens is something that needs to end.”
Trudeau said the problem could not be solved overnight but the necessary changes needed to start immediately.
There were also protests in Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Regina and the protests are expected to continue in Canada.
