MISSISSAUGA — The controversial practice of carding by Toronto Police doesn’t formally exist in Mississauga and Brampton because Peel Regional Police do it under a different moniker, according to defence lawyers and civil liberty advocates.

Over in Toronto, there has been a strong push from high-profile citizens and political leaders to end the carding practice, which allows police to stop people and obtain their personal information without charging or detaining them. Critics, including Bramalea-Gore-Malton MPP Jagmeet Singh, say the practice targets racialized people.

Toronto Police Service spokesperson Mark Pugash said information collected by police could include the person’s name, address and contact information. He said the process isn’t unique to Toronto and happens in other Canadian cities.

Singh, who said he hasn’t been carded in Peel but said that youth he has dealt with here have told him of similar experiences, said it happened to him multiple times when he was growing up in Windsor, as well as when he was a young man in Toronto. It “definitely” had something to do with his appearance, said Singh, who wears a turban.

Peel police haven’t responded to a request for comment on whether carding exists here or what the force’s stance is on the practice. Several Peel officers have told The News they practice a form of “street checks,” where individuals are asked to identify themselves and give certain information which ultimately is entered into their database.

Peel criminal lawyer Gary Batasar believes street checks are less invasive than carding, which he said doesn’t formally happen here.

“Simply put, carding is charged with issues that co-mingle the fears of potential racist behaviour on the part of the police and the subsequent deprivation of our constitutionally-guaranteed Charter rights,” he said. “In my years of practise I have not had any concerns about Peel police carding individuals nor have clients complained about that issue in particular.”

Batasar said Peel officers have a number of tools in their “arsenal” to gather background on individuals, including the use of license plate readers, and Ministry of Health and Transportation searches and the use of confidential informants.

Defence lawyer Michael Moon said “street checks” in Peel involve officers identifying “high crime areas” and stopping and questioning a proportionately-high number of people in said areas.

“They paint the person with an aura of criminality,” he said.