S3: The Mounties Always Get Their Land (Part 2)

In 1919 almost half the working population of Winnipeg walked off the job in the largest strike in Canadian history. The events that followed led to the creation of a new police force called the RCMP. In part two, we continue to learn about early policing in Canada and why the RCMP are not our country’s only police force. We connect the dots from past to the present to find out why many Black and Indigenous communities still have a distrust of the police. We’ll talk about the concept of the “Carceral State,” continue our journey into old Mountie films and make way too many references to the TV show Law & Order and the Mission Impossible franchise. Then, with the help of guests, Sonya Ballantyne, a filmmaker and writer from Manitoba, and Toronto artist and activist Syrus Marcus Ware, we’ll learn about the grim history of “starlight tours” as well as the modern day abolitionist movement. *This episode contains strong language and content.