Edmonton Police and Indigenous Peoples

: Alexis stopped short of saying that he believes the practice of randomly stopping and documenting people on Edmonton streets singles out aboriginal people, according to CBC. Bht he said if it does happen it would be a "serious violation of our human rights." Citing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states indigenous individuals are free and equal to everyone else, he said "our peoples have the right to walk freely in the city of Edmonton without fear of being singled out by the police for perceived profiling or behavior." In June, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report noted the huge rift colonialism has created between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. "It will take us a long time to fix it," the commission wrote."But the process has already begun." Edmonton police insist street checks are never racially motivated, and are instrumental in solving cases and furthering investigations. Treaty 6 Grand Chief Tony Alexis and Treaty 8 Grand Chief Steve Courtoreille were reacting to CBC stories raising concerns that carding in Edmonton singles out aboriginal people and other racial groups. "Even if there is the appearance of racial profiling — that will undermine any attempt towards reconciliation between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples," Alexis wrote in response to the stories. They said they do not keep track by race, although that information is logged into the system. Some critics have called for a review, including analysis of police data to determine whether certain groups are singled out, as statistics have demonstrated in Ontario. Alexis noted police card about 70 people in Edmonton every day. "To say that this has reduced the crime rate without accurate records kept does not seem to be an appropriate claim," he said. "I cannot support this random street checking of individuals and will discuss this with the heads of our governments, the chiefs of the Treaty No. 6 First Nations," he wrote. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.