Anti-Racism Advisory Panel (ARAP)

In April 2018, as a result of a recommendation made by the jury at the Inquest into the Death of Andrew Loku, the Toronto Police Services Board established an Anti-Racism Advisory Panel (ARAP).

Over the next two years, ARAP was involved in a number of important issues, including assisting in the drafting of a new Race-Based Data Collection, Analysis and Public Reporting Policy for the Board and the development of a framework to monitor the implementation of the recommendations made by the jury in the inquest into the death of Andrew Loku. At its meeting of August 18, 2020, the Board approved ARAP’s “Recommended Monitoring Framework for the Implementation of the Recommendations Arising from the Inquest into the Death of Andrew Loku,” concluding the inaugural mandate of ARAP.

At the same meeting, the Board approved 81 recommendations related to police reform that put into place a roadmap for comprehensive policing reform and include building new community safety response models, initiatives to address systemic racism and concrete steps to improve trust with our communities. In addition, a number of recommendations focused on ARAP directly, including a recommendation making ARAP permanent and building in certain requirements to its structure, and a recommendation naming its new Co-Chairs, Ainsworth Morgan and Anthony Morgan.

Membership

At its meeting of February 25, 2021, the Board approved the membership of ARAP (Min. No. P2021-0225-3.0. refers).

  • Ainsworth Morgan (Board Member and ARAP Co-Chair)
    Ainsworth Morgan is a Toronto Police Services Board Member, and Co-Chair of ARAP. Following a career as a professional football player, including with the Toronto Argonauts, Ainsworth pursued a career in education, beginning as a teacher with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) in September 2000. Facilitating equitable access to education is at the core of his approach to teaching, as demonstrated by his work as the Academic Coordinator with the Pathways To Education Program-Regent Park, and as co-founder of the 100 Strong Foundation — a mentoring and advocacy group for Black boys between the ages of 11 to 14. Ainsworth is currently a Principal in the TDSB and serves on the Board of Directors for White Ribbon Canada — an organization that engages men and boys in the prevention of gender-based violence by promoting equity and transforming social norms. He joined the Toronto Police Services Board in January 2020.
  • Anthony Morgan (ARAP Co-Chair)
    Anthony Morgan is the Co-Chair of ARAP. Anthony is a lawyer and the Manager of the City of Toronto’s Confronting Anti-Black Racism (CABR) Unit, which is responsible for the implementation of the Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism. Prior to joining the City, Anthony was an Associate at Falconers LLP, specializing in the areas of civil, constitutional and criminal state accountability litigation. He has a special interest in anti-racist human rights advocacy, particularly in the area of anti-Black racism. Anthony is a frequent legal, social and public affairs commentator on issues concerning race and racism, critical multiculturalism and critical race theory in Canada. Also a freelance columnist, Anthony’s column, “Colour-Coded Justice,” appears regularly in The Monitor, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' bimonthly policy and current affairs magazine, with a column that explores racial justice issues in Canadian life, law and policy.
  • Shamso Elmi
    Shamso Elmi is the co-founder of Mending a Crack in the Sky (MCIS), a dynamic program that consists of a dedicated group of Somali mothers who are passionate about creating safe spaces to heal, mobilize, advocate and navigate socioeconomic systems. The group is inspired by a Somali proverb stating that, “if people come together, they can even mend a crack in the sky.” In addition to MCIS, Shamso’s dedication and passion have allowed her to become a symbolic figure in the community. Advocacy has become Shamso’s legacy through her work as a workshop facilitator, interpreter, community worker, and addressing youth radicalization.
  • Michele Hamilton
    Michele Hamilton has been an equity seeker and advocate since childhood. After studying sociology and criminology at the University of Toronto, she began her career as a Social Service Worker, supporting adults with developmental and mental health disabilities. She was active in union and worker rights before studying law at Osgoode Hall Law School, where she was the local president and the national VP of the Black Law Students Association of Canada. Michele articled at the African Canadian Legal Clinic which focused on addressing systemic anti-Black racism. Michele has worked with labour organizations for over 20 years and has a special interest and expertise in human rights and police law. She was In House Counsel and also served as the anti-Harassment Ombudsperson to the Ontario Provincial Police Association from 2012 to February 2021.
  • Clinton Reid
    Clinton Reid brings with him over 12 years of experience in the affordable housing non-profit sector, social entrepreneurship, and community development. He is the Coordinator of “Collective Impact,” a community-led collective focused on promoting a positive police and community dialogue, as well as educating the community on changes to police regulations and policies. Clinton has also worked at Toronto Community Housing in various roles, such as Youth Engagement Coordinator and Social Enterprise & Partnership Coordinator, as well as the Community Economic Development Coordinator, where he worked on community initiatives focused on safety and economic opportunities for residents living in Toronto Community Housing neighbourhoods.
  • K’Mesha Maloney
    K’Mesha Maloney is an Afro-Indigenous community member who uses her background in Indigenous Visual Culture and Psychology to provide outreach and advocacy for the Indigenous, Black and LGBTQI2S+ communities for over a decade; this includes working in homeless shelters. As a survivor of human trafficking she uses her lived experience to facilitate workshops for at-risk youth, law enforcement, health care providers and educators through an anti-oppressive and trauma informed framework. It is her goal, while being a part of the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel, that she creates transparency and accountability to initiate progressive changes between marginalized communities and the Toronto Police Service. She recognizes that in order to create change being a leader requires being an effective listener first.
  • Asante Haughton
    Asante Haughton is a seasoned mental health and social justice advocate, specializing in elucidating the impacts of racism, poverty and community violence on wellbeing. With experience as a front-lines case manager with Pathways to Education, and now as a peer support specialist, trainer and program manager with Stella's Place, Asante seeks to foster justice and equity for the underserved and marginalized. He is a 2x TEDx speaker, was named as one Canada's top 150 mental health difference makers by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, is a contributing editor to Inspire Magazine, a working group member of the government of Canada's Mental Health of Black Canadians fund, a host of the music making peer support web show, Cypher, and co-founder of the Reach Out Response Network, an organization advocating to bring about non-police led mobile mental health crisis reform. Focused on building bridges, Asante believes that dialogue, cooperation and community can generate solutions to most of society's toughest problems.
  • Pamela Hart
    Pamela Hart is Anishinaabe Kwe, Muskrat Clan, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island on Lake Simcoe and a mother of one. She has worked on the front line for over a decade offering client care and support services to address issues such as addiction, mental health, violence against women, trauma, and homelessness. In her current role as Executive Director of Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, Pamela strives to contribute to healing through the unity of community and through creating opportunities of reconnection to culture while advocating and promoting the integrity and value of Indigenous Women.
  • Yavuz Topbas
    Yavuz Selim Topbas is a youth policy leader and second-year student at Carleton University pursuing a Bachelor of Public Affairs & Policy Management degree, with a specialization in International Policy Studies. Yavuz Selim has previously served as the President of the Toronto District School Board’s Student Senate, where he represented roughly 250,000 students at the Board level. As part of this role, he advocated for racially and fiscally equitable Board policies, ranging from greater funding for racialized high schools to geographically equitable representation in student politics through electronic elections. Yavuz Selim is currently working towards building a policy career in the public service. In addition, he occasionally works as a consultant on strategy, community engagement and diversity, offering a unique youth perspective to the discussion.
  • Shalini Konanur
    Shalini Konanur is the Executive Director and a lawyer at the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario, a not-for-profit organization that provides direct legal services to low-income South Asian populations across Ontario. Shalini’s mandate includes extensive advocacy on human rights issues at the domestic and international level, and SALCO is a leading voice on the issues that impact on South Asians in Canada, including systemic racism, Islamophobia, gender-based violence, issues with precarious immigration, and lack of access to mental health and addictions services. Shalini has participated in test case work, submissions to the United Nations, and provincial and federal advisory roles on systemic racism in Canada and its impact on racialized communities.
  • Shayle Graham
    Shayle Graham is a social philanthropist who builds authentic partnerships with community organizations and institutions, for the advancement of racialized youth and for the sustainability of Black communities. Through her experience as a coach in the areas of equity, anti-racism and anti-oppression; a community activist who partners with stakeholders to decrease the chances of marginalized youth having negative experiences with law enforcement; and the founder of a non-profit organization that disrupts the barriers preventing Black girls from occupying particular spaces, Shayle dedicates her time, skills, resources and networks to create systemic impact.
  • Andre Fullerton
    Andre Fullerton, MBA is a father, educator, community developer and social justice change agent who maintains a flair for fostering positive relations with the community and other stakeholders. With over 20 years of experience working professionally in various capacities of community engagement, Andre has worked with a variety of organizations including Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Tropicana Community Services and currently with the Toronto Catholic District School Board. A graduate of the Ivey Business School, Andre is eager to share his educational, work and life experiences to this committee in hopes of working together with the Toronto Police to make our communities safe.
  • H. Roy Wellington
    Born and raised in Toronto, Roy Wellington received his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School (York University) in 2012. Since serving his articles at the Ministry of the Attorney General for Ontario, Crown Law Office - Civil, he has practiced administrative and criminal defence law throughout the province. In representing clients, Roy examines the real world outcomes of police policies and procedures as experienced by racialized and otherwise marginalized communities. Roy has represented clients at two Coroners Inquests and participated in the Board’s virtual town hall in July, 2020.
  • Paul Bailey
    Paul Bailey is a strategist, urban planner and Interim Executive Director at the Black Health Alliance. Paul has spent the last decade designing interventions focused on: health and well-being, community violence, mental health and addictions, and the social service sector as it relates to improving outcomes for Black children, youth and families. His work is currently focused on social development, health equity, and addressing the causes of neighbourhood distress and inequality.
  • Ayderus Alawi
    Ayderus Alawi has worked as a criminal defence lawyer in the Greater Toronto area for almost a decade. Ayderus attended York University where he completed both an Honours bachelor's degree in political science followed by a law degree. Ayderus has spent over twenty years working in the community in a variety of roles where he has maintained a strong commitment to work towards addressing issues of discrimination and systemic issues including anti-Black racism.
  • Destiny Guthrie
    Destiny Guthrie is an advocate passionate about upholding the rights of marginalized and vulnerable populations. She has worked in the field of social services and corrections for three years, working with racialized minorities, youth, and disadvantaged populations. A Masters graduate in Criminology and Socio-legal studies, Destiny would like to contribute to the promotion of anti-oppressive policies and practices through her work on ARAP.
  • Horace Knight
    Horace Knight is a retired Human Resources Manager having worked in the municipal government and education sectors. Throughout his career, Horace provided advice and support to managerial staff on a range of policies which included anti-racism. This involved conducting investigations and when required issuing discipline to policy violators. He is currently a member of committee at his church that is organizing and running anti-racism seminars and learning series on anti-racism. Horace is also a director and past chair of the Stonegate Ministry Board, a charity in Southeastern Etobicoke catering to that low-income neighbourhood.
  • Shane Martinez
    Shane Martínez has practiced criminal defence and human rights law in Toronto since 2011. He earned his LLB at the University of New Brunswick, and subsequently earned his LEC at the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica. In 2017, Shane served as co-counsel for Across Boundaries during its intervention at the Coroner's Inquest into the death of Andrew Loku. Shane regularly acts as pro bono counsel for the advocacy group Justice for Migrant Workers, and also serves on the Board of Directors at both Luke's Place and PASAN.
  • Rayon Brown
    Rayon Brown is a seasoned community development business professional, deeply driven by the holistic approach grounded in principles of empowerment, human rights, inclusion, social justice, self-determination and collective action. Currently, Rayon is the Community Economic Development Director of Helping Neighbourhoods Implement Change - a non-profit organization deeply rooted in under-serviced communities, to equip individuals with tools and resources, and build their capacity through training and mentorship.
  • Keith Talley
    Keith Talley is a senior IT executive, with a successful track record in strategic planning and implementation of transformational IT solutions, recommending process improvements while creating and aligning high-performing teams. In addition to Information Technology, Keith has held key roles in Operations, Vendor Management and Facilities Management. Keith looks to draw on his experience as an IT leader, as well as his ability to “think outside of the box,” to assist ARAP in developing innovative solutions to confront racism in policing.
  • Jennifer Chambers
    Jennifer Chambers is the Executive Director of the Empowerment Council, an organization that serves as a voice for clients/survivors and ex-clients of mental health and addiction services, primarily of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The Empowerment Council had standing at the Andrew Loku Inquest and informed the resulting recommendations. She was a Co-Chair of the Board’s former Mental Health Sub-Committee and is also co-chair of the Board’s Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Panel (MHAAP).
  • Dawnmarie Harriott
    Dawnmarie Harriott is the Coordinator of Voices from the Street, a speakers bureau composed of people who have experienced various forms of marginalization and who provide public education to a range of audiences from students to policy makers. She also coordinates a Relief Worker training program and offers training on Peer Work to a variety of non-profit organizations. As a former graduate (2007) of the speakers bureau, Dawnmarie shares her lived experience of the many systemic barriers she had to overcome and she advocates for policy change on issues related to domestic violence and poverty. Dawnmarie firmly believes that people with lived experience of all forms of marginalization should be included in research and service provision.
  • Deputy Chief Peter Yuen (TPS Representative)
    As a senior police leader with the largest municipal police service in Canada, Deputy Chief Peter Yuen is currently in charge of Community Safety Command which provides proactive and reactive public safety services and programs in partnership with diverse communities and key stakeholders. As Deputy Chief, Peter is responsible for all front line policing and oversees 12 districts consisting of 16 divisions in the City. He is also in charge of Field Services which encompasses the Toronto Police Operations Centre, Communications Services, Traffic Services, Parking Enforcement, Public Safety Response Team and the Community Partnerships & Engagement Unit. Peter is most proud of the meaningful partnerships he has developed and expanded that are most relevant to the heart of the community, including the Neighbourhood Community Officer Program and the expansion of the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team Program.

    Peter has acquired an extensive variety of professional experiences spanning over 34 years of policing including: uniform patrol, undercover work, criminal investigation, community response, Asian Organized Crime, Homicide Squad, Human Resources, Duty Operations and Corporate Risk Management. Peter has been recognized as an Asian Organized Crime expert by the Courts of Ontario and has spoken both nationally and internationally on the topic, including addressing the Justice Committee in Ottawa, the International Council for Refugees and the National Organized Crime Committee.

    Peter has an excellent track record for impacting police policy and believes in community focused policing that is accountable and transparent. He launched a comprehensive internal review of the Toronto Police Service ‘Search of Persons’ Procedure and directed a complete overhaul of the procedure, training and audit processes resulting in the Ontario Independent Police Review Director declaring the changes as the “gold standard” that all other police services across the province to follow. Moving forward, Peter is exploring the use of technology to create innovative ways to further decrease the number of strip searches and support personal dignity.

    Peter was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada in 1975. He is proud of his Chinese heritage and his Canadian citizenship. From a lens of his own personal experiences with diversity, Peter actively seeks out honest public discourse and community input on policing issues, management and social justice issues. Peter is a member of the Toronto Police Services Board Anti-Racism Advisory Panel, a member of the Toronto Police Services Board Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Panel, a member of the National Use of Force Committee, the Ontario Regional Chair of the National Justice Committee, the Co-Chair of the Toronto Police Service Mobile Crisis Intervention Team Steering Committee and Senior Advisor to both the East and South Asian Internal Support Networks.

    Always championing the voices of the community, Peter serves as an executive member of the Service’s Race Based Data Collection Strategy. Peter believes that to combat systemic racism, we must first understand it and the community must have input on how we collect, store, analyze and share race based data. With the help of 30 community organizations and Service liaison committees, he coordinated the largest community engagement venture the Service had ever endeavored, meeting with almost 900 people from all walks of life and from every corner of this City for their input for the purpose of shaping police policy. Peter has a Bachelor of Applied Arts Degree in Justice Studies from the University of Guelph and a Master of Arts degree in Leadership from the University of Guelph.

    Peter has received numerous awards including the following internal and external awards:
    • Police Officer of the Month
    • Police Officer of the Year
    • Merit Mark
    • Chief of Police Letter of Recognition
    • Chief of Police Commendation
    • Chief of Police Award of Excellence
    • Professional Excellence Tribute Award
    • Community Law Enforcement Award – 2005
    • Chinese Canadian Legend Award – 2014
    • Police Exemplary Service Medal
    • Order of Merit of the Police Forces, M.O.M
  • Superintendent Stacy Clarke (TPS Representative)
    Superintendent Stacy Clarke is the Unit Commander of the Community Partnerships and Engagement Unit. Stacy’s diverse policing career has included working in primary and community response units, intelligence, homicide, criminal investigative bureau and the Toronto Police College. She is known for implementing the Province’s Street Check Legislation and Co-chairing the Police and Community Engagement Review (PACER 2.0) Committee. She is also a past Service representative on the Board’s Anti-Racism Advisory Panel (ARAP).
  • Inspector Ishmail Musah (TPS Representative)
    Ishmail Musah currently holds the rank of Inspector with the Toronto Police Service and is in his 22nd year of policing. His current role is that of a Duty Senior Officer within the Toronto Police Operations Centre.

    Ishmail has extensive frontline divisional policing experience throughout the city. He has worked from Parkdale to The Beaches, from Little Jamaica to the Danforth and many places in between. His experience also includes working in plainclothes units, traffic collision investigations unit and the community response unit.

    As a Staff Sergeant, Ishmail has been the Officer In Charge of Primary Response Units, the Public Safety Response Team and of a Divisional Community Response Unit. Ishmail was also one of the leads in the Service’s Organizational Change Management Unit. This was the first organizational change management unit in Canadian policing history. The unit worked to manage the “people side of change” as the Service began to implement the modernization recommendations set forth in the 2017 Action Plan: The Way Forward.

    Ishmail held the role of Executive Officer to the Deputy Chief of Community and Neighbourhoods Command, where he assisted with the operations and performance for the Command. As part of his work as Executive Officer, Ishmail worked closely with the Community Partnership and Engagement Unit and helped to oversee the implementation of the Services’ new Mental Health and Addiction Strategy.
  • Sergeant Ian Searles – Neighbourhood Officer, 55 Division (TPS Representative)
  • Police Constable Cailia Khan – Neighbourhood Officer, 32 Division (TPS Representative)
  • Ian Williams, Manager – Business Analytics (TPS Representative)
    Ian Williams is the Manager of Analytics & Innovation Unit. Ian has extensive experience in information management and analytics and the work of Ian’s teams support members across the Toronto Police Service, and community members. Ian’s teams created, and continue to develop, the Toronto Police Service Public Safety Data Portal, an industry-leading open data and analytics site that supports community safety and wellbeing awareness. Ian drives information management and analytics practices to improve community safety and wellbeing outcomes for all stakeholders.
  • Svina Dhaliwal, Director – People & Culture (TPS Representative)
    Svina Dhaliwal joined the Service in 2018 as the Director of Finance and Business Management and has recently assumed the role of Director of People and Culture. Svina oversees all aspects of a member’s employee journey with the Service; hiring, training, wellness, equity and inclusion, payroll & benefits, labour relations, workforce analytics and human resource strategy. She also serves as Co-Chair for the Service’s French Community Consultative Committee. Svina has extensive experience in organizational transformation including strategy development, service delivery models, change management and value realization. She is a Board Director for the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences Foundation and a financial literacy volunteer with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.

ARAP's Mandate

ARAP's mandate is to advise and support the Board in relation to policing and racism, anti-Black racism and anti-Indigenous racism, including:

  1. Identifying current issues relating to racism, anti-Black racism, anti-Indigenous racism and policing, including developing and/or recommending policies, strategies and action plans for approval by the Board;
  2. Monitoring the implementation of the Toronto City Council’s Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism;
  3. Monitoring the implementation of the Board’s Race-Based Data Collection, Analysis, and Public Reporting Policy, including reviewing the data analysis and any interventions developed by the Service to address racial disparities for feedback and recommendations for enhancement;
  4. Monitoring the implementation of the recommendations from the Andrew Loku Inquest through the monitoring framework previously developed by ARAP;
  5. Reviewing Service reports on Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) use and making recommendations for enhancement;
  6. Monitoring the implementation of inquest recommendations as appropriate;
  7. Reviewing the development and implementation of all Service training and offering recommendations for enhancement, including training on anti-racism;
  8. Monitoring the implementation of the recommendations in the present report and providing advice to the Board on necessary enhancements and improvements; and
  9. Participating in the community consultation process on the Toronto Police Service’s annual budget.
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