Federal NDP leader says he's been targeted for police checks

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday he's heard concerns from Nova Scotians about police street checks during his two-day visit here that's part of a cross-country tour.

A January 2017 CBC News investigation found that according to information released by Halifax Regional Police, black people are three times more likely to be the subject of a so-called street check than white individuals. For people of Arab and West Asian ethnicity, they were 1.9 times more likely to be street checked than white people.

It's an issue that's both personal and political for Singh, who is the first person of a visible minority group to head a Canadian federal political party, on a permanent basis.

"I can say, a bit sadly, that I am the only federal leader that's been carded, that's been street checked. I can say with confidence as prime minister, I would like to be the last," said Singh at a news conference in Dartmouth.

In most cases, a check involves an interaction between an officer and an individual or a group of people. Sometimes it is an observation, with no communication between the officer and person.

Checks are recorded, with details such as age, gender, location, reason and ethnicity.

"We are going to start pushing for an end to this arbitrary form of arrest, actually an arbitrary form of detention," said Singh.

"I'd love to see a day in Canada where no one is stopped simply because of their identity or the colour of their skin, they're stopped because of objective criteria or some evidence that's pointed to the individual to be stopped."

Obligatory rights notification

Singh, a former criminal defence lawyer, said he believes any police checks should begin with officers notifying people of their rights.

"As soon as the police or anyone in a position of authority approaches you, they say, 'Listen, this conversation is voluntary … if you don't want to communicate, if you don't want to have a conversation, you are free to leave,'" he said.

"Providing that right notification up front would actually have two massive benefits. One, people would actually be able to walk away if they wanted to and we'd ensure that any communication is voluntary and we know that voluntary communication is actually much better — you get much better evidence, much better information and we'd create a much better culture between the public and the police," said Singh.

He said discriminatory practices create an adversarial relationship between the public and the police "that doesn't benefit our society and it doesn't actually help policing."

Turban 'looks cool'

Earlier in the day, Singh also spoke to CBC's Information Morning. One of the things he talked about is why he wears a turban.

"The first thing I say is, it looks cool," said Singh, noted for his colourful array of the head coverings. On Monday, it was orange, purple the day before.

In the early days of the Sikh religion, wearing a turban was adopted by both men and women as a form of revolution against the idea that turbans could only be worn by the monarchy.

"The idea was to say all human beings are royal. All human beings are equally noble and it was an act of rebellion," he explained.

"Once people know about it, they think it is a cool idea."

Comfortable without a seat

Singh's cross-country tour of Canada will include a stop in St. John's, N.L., where he lived from age two until seven. 

He said he plans to spend a lot more time on the road.

Singh doesn't have a seat in the House of Commons, but he said he's comfortable with that for now, pointing to Jack Layton, who became leader in 2003 while he was a city councillor in Toronto.

"He didn't have a seat, and he spent the time touring the country, getting to hear issues ... I'm hoping to do the same thing," said Singh.