Laura Mae Lindo MPP, Kitchener Centre

QUEEN’S PARK — The NDP’s Brampton MPPs and the Official Opposition Ontario NDP Black Caucus released the following statement in response to Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU)’s decision in the D’Andre Campbell case:
 
“D’Andre Campbell called 911 because he was in crisis and needed help. He was loved, his life mattered and he reached out for support, in the belief that he would be treated accordingly. But D’Andre didn’t get the support for his mental health crisis that he deserved. Instead, the police that he called for help shot him multiple times, killing him in his home.

Today, D’Andre Campbell’s family and community was denied the justice and closure they deserved by an inadequate and utterly broken police oversight process that does not work for Black, Indigenous or racialized Ontarians – or for people living with mental health issues. For decades, community leaders, judges, legal experts and Black Ontarians have been clear. This process lacks the bare minimum of independence, transparency and accountability required to be effective. This was painfully evident in the D’Andre Campbell case.

To date, the officer who killed D’Andre has not been identified by either Peel Regional Police or the SIU, with the oversight body noting they were unable to compel the officer to present themselves for an interview or even submit their notes. To call this an investigation is an insult to D’Andre’s memory, his family, and all Ontarians who believe in justice.

We stand with D’Andre Campbell’s family during this time of unimaginable pain, and with the broader Peel community in their call for systemic change. D’Andre’s death and the SIU’s findings today are not isolated events, but part of a longstanding pattern. The only way out of this destructive pattern is to overhaul these broken systems and change how we keep people – especially those who are Black, Indigenous, racialized, or living with mental illness – safe and healthy.

That means making significant investments to fund our lives – starting with mental health supports across Ontario, and shifting responsibility for mental health calls to alternative first responders, who are equipped to de-escalate and provide those in distress with the urgent care they deserve.
 
It also includes overhauling the SIU so that the public and communities across the province can begin to have confidence that police are able to be held to account. Without substantial and fundamental changes to these structures, there can be no lasting justice for D’Andre Campbell, his family or the many Black, Indigenous and racialized folks whose lives and families have been destroyed by systemic brutality.”
 
The Ontario NDP Black Caucus is the first official Black Caucus in the Ontario Legislature. Its members are Laura Mae Lindo (Kitchener Centre), Jill Andrew (Toronto—St. Paul’s), Rima Berns-McGown (Beaches—East York), Faisal Hassan (York South—Weston), and Kevin Yarde (Brampton North).

Brampton is represented by three NDP MPPs – Gurratan Singh (Brampton East), Sara Singh (Brampton Centre) and Kevin Yarde (Brampton North).