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Research Note: Revisiting the Collection of “Justice Statistics by Race” in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

Akwasi Owusu-Bempah  and
Paul Millar
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah
Affiliation:
Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, 14 Queen's Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON M5S 3K1Canada, a.o.bempah@utoronto.ca
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Extract

The debate over the collection of justice statistics by race continues to hinge on the same key issues that were central to the debate when it arose in the early 1990s. There has been one major change, however: whereas racial minority groups were once vehemently opposed to the collection of justice statistics by race, for fear that such statistics would be used to justify discriminatory policies, many minority groups are now advocating for the collection and publication of this data as a means to redress racial discrimination in the administration of justice. Having discussed the lack of available data on racial and ethnic statistics in the Canadian justice system, the authors sought support from the Canadian Law and Society Association (CLSA). At the 2009 annual general meeting of the CLSA, a motion for the association to take an official position in support of the collection of justice statistics by race was put forth by the authors and accepted by the association. At this time it was also decided that a committee would be established to conduct relevant research and to lobby for the collection of pertinent data. At present we are asking interested individuals or organizations who fall into one or more of the following categories to contact the first author:

(1) Those with arguments relating to the collection of justice statistics by race that have not been articulated in the debate that has taken place over the past two decades.

(2) Those with information pertaining to the collection of justice statistics by race that is not readily available or that has not been documented in the academic work referenced herein.

(3) Those who are interested in participating in the work of the committee outlined at the end of this paper.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , April 2010 , pp. 97 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2010

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References

1 We believe that the more commonly used phrase “race–crime statistics” presupposes an association between race and crime; we have therefore decided instead to use the term “justice statistics by race.” For the purposes of this article, the term “justice statistics by race” denotes criminal justice statistics that would identify the race of suspects, accused persons, offenders, and victims of crime, as well as the race of individuals working within the system.

2 The arguments for and against the collection of justice statistics by race are outlined in detail below.

3 For example, the African Canadian Legal Clinic has been a vocal advocate for the collection of race-based criminal justice statistics: see African Canadian Legal Clinic, Disaggregated Data Collection (Race Based Statistics): Policy Paper (Toronto: African Canadian Legal Clinic, 2009)Google Scholar.

4 Tonry, M., “Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration,” in Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration: A Review of Research, ed. Tonry, M. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997)Google Scholar.

5 Roberts, J.V., “Race, Crime and the Collection of Criminal Justice Statistics,” in Crimes of Colour: Racialization and the Criminal Justice System, ed. Chan, W. & Mirchandi, K., 101–12 (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2001)Google Scholar; Tanovich, D.M., The Colour of Justice: Policing Race in Canada (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006)Google Scholar.

6 Roberts, J.V., Statistics on Race and Crime: A Canadian Dilemma (Ottawa: University of Ottawa, 1992)Google Scholar.

7 Similar comments were made by a Toronto police sergeant in relation to the involvement of mainland Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants in crime in the Asian community: Johnston, J.P., “Academic Approaches to Race Crime Statistics Do Not Justify Their Collection,” Canadian Journal of Criminology 36, 2 (1994)Google Scholar.

8 Ibid., 166.

9 Haggerty, K., Making Crime Count (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

10 Fine, S., “StatsCan Dropping Scheme to Tie Crime Statistics to Ethnic Groups,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), 31 July 1990Google Scholar.

11 See Doob, A.N., Workshop on Collecting Race and Ethnicity Statistics in the Criminal Justice System (Toronto: Centre of Criminology, University of Toronto, 1991)Google Scholar.

12 Hatt, K., “Reservations about Race and Crime Statistics,” Canadian Journal of Criminology 36, 2 (1994), 164–5Google Scholar; Johnston, “Academic Approaches”; Roberts, J.V., “Crime and Race Statistics—Toward a Canadian Solution,” Canadian Journal of Criminology 36, 2 (1994), 175–85Google Scholar; Gabor, T., “The Suppression of Crime Statistics on Race and Ethnicity—The Price of Political Correctness,” Canadian Journal of Criminology 36, 2 (1994), 153–63Google Scholar.

13 Knepper, P., “Race, Racism and Crime Statistics,” Southern University Law Review 24, 1 (1996), 71–111Google Scholar; Wortley, S., “A Northern Taboo: Research on Race, Crime, and Criminal Justice in Canada,” Canadian Journal of Criminology 41, 2 (1999), 261–71Google Scholar; Haggerty, Making Crime Count; Roberts, “Race, Crime.”

14 Wortley, S., The Collection of Race-Based Statistics within the Criminal Justice and Educational Systems: A Report for the Ontario Human Rights Commission (Toronto: Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2005)Google Scholar.

15 Report of the Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System (Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1995)Google Scholar; Ferguson, R., Talaga, T., and Brown, L., “McGuinty Eyes Race Stats,” Toronto Star, 15 November 2008Google Scholar.

16 Hatt, , “Reservations about Race and Crime Statistics,” 164Google Scholar.

17 Doob, , Workshop, 3Google Scholar.

18 Ibid.

19 Rankin, J. and Powell, B., “The Criminals Among Us: Not as Many Lawbreakers as Canadians Believe Are Members of Visible Minorities, Survey Shows,” Toronto Star, 21 July 2008, A1Google Scholar.

20 “Race” is put in quotation marks here to denote contestation over the use of the term in social scientific inquiry: UNESCO, Statement on Race and Racial Prejudice (Paris: UNESCO, 1967)Google Scholar; American Sociological Association, The Importance of Collecting Data and Doing Scientific Research on Race (Washington, DC: American Sociological Association, 2003)Google Scholar. While race is primarily a social and not a biological construct, its consequences are nonetheless very real. For a detailed discussion see Montagu, A., Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Race, 6th ed. (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 1997)Google Scholar; Memmi, A., Racism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000)Google Scholar.

21 Lewington, J., “Learning Lessons Anything But Elementary,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), 22 January 2007, A9Google Scholar.

22 Doob, Workshop; Roberts, “Crime and Race Statistics”; Wortley, “A Northern Taboo.”

23 Weitzer, R. and Tuch, S., Race and Policing in America: Conflict and Reform (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

24 Wortley, “A Northern Taboo.”

25 The prospect of increased transparency and accountability is likely a contributing factors in the criminal justice system's seeming reluctance to collect and publish criminal justice statistics disaggregated by race.

26 R. v. Gladue, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 688.

27 Wortley, S., “The Collection and Use of Statistics on Race and Crime: An Issues and Options Paper” (Toronto: Commission on Systemic Racism in the Ontario Criminal Justice System, 1994)Google Scholar.

28 Roberts, J.V. and Gabor, T., “Lombrosian Wine in a New Bottle: Research on Crime and Race,” Canadian Journal of Criminology 32 (1990), 291–313Google Scholar.

29 Rankin and Powell, “The Criminals Among Us.”