Thunder Bay police Chief Darcy Fleury knows firsthand what it's like to experience racism – and that has helped guide his first few months on the job as he looks to overhaul the embattled police force and repair relations with the Indigenous community.
The Métis man took over the top job on the police force in May and has made one thing clear to his officers.
Fleury, a veteran RCMP officer who rose through the ranks over the past few decades to a district commander in central Alberta, believes his Indigenous heritage will help him navigate the rough waters in Thunder Bay. "I'm not saying that I got some kind of crystal ball or magic wand that says, 'oh, that guy's a racist, that girl's a racist.' No. You can know through the conversations or the reactions or the interactions. You can tell."
"We won't forget what happened in the past, but we need to work together and continue to work together to make sure that we've learned," Fleury said."We really want a second look at it from these groups," he said. The chief is also trying to remake his force to better represent Thunder Bay's demographics. The force wants to hire more Indigenous members and people from other under-represented groups, but Fleury admits recruitment, regardless of race and ethnicity, is difficult.
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