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“We believe carding for no reason does not build relationships, rather the contrary — it reinforces the attitude that aboriginal women are not worthy of the human rights most Canadians enjoy,” she said.

Justice minister promises review

Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said she has heard from a number of community groups about the unequal distribution of street checks, and called the numbers “troubling.”

Black Lives Matter found black Edmontonians were three to five times more likely to be stopped than white people. Indigenous people were four times more likely to be stopped than whites, while indigenous women were carded at nine times the rate of white women.

The Edmonton Police Service said street checks are aimed at “preventing, intervening and suppressing crime, and to further investigations.”

Officers are conducting fewer street checks since a 2015 review, Staff Sgt. Warren Driechel said Monday. He added certain groups may be over-represented because of the large deployment of foot patrol officers downtown.

Mohamed, 22, said he has been carded before, but said the practice does not make anyone safer.

“All that carding accomplishes is putting people in the system, and it further leads to that stigma between communities and the police,” he said.

While he supports community-based policing, carding is not it.

“If police want to engage the community, there are other ways to do it rather than collecting someone’s information,” he said. “There was one officer growing up — he knew where we hung out, he knew where we played basketball, and he tried to know us. I think that kind of policing is lacking in the city of Edmonton.”

Ganley’s ministry established a working group with representatives from Alberta’s police services back in February 2016, but it has yet to form a policy.

The Wildrose and Progressive Conservative parties are both pushing government to put measures in place to stop or limit the practice.

Under Alberta’s policing standards, police agencies are required to provide impartial policing without regard to ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, belief or social standing.

egraney@postmedia.com

jwakefield@postmedia.com

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