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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2020 | Volume 33, No. 38
TODAY’S WEATHER
LATEST ON PANDEMIC
PASSENGER FLIGHTS UP
Now not the time to let guard down, Henry says
Kamloops Airport seeing business pick back up
Mainly sunny High 27 C, Low 12 C
NEWS/A16
NEWS/A4
‘Systemic racism’ not a concern for Kamloops RCMP, according to chief RCMP Supt. Syd Lecky tells KTW he is an ally of anti-racists and BLM movement TIM PETRUK STAFF REPORTER tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
The city’s top law-enforcement officer has lived experience on both sides of the racism and policing discussion that’s been making headlines across Canada for the last week, prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping through large U.S. cities in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month. RCMP Supt. Syd Lecky was born to a black father and a First Nations mother, and his career as a Mountie has seen him work in urban centres and Northern Indigenous communities. When asked about systemic racism in the national police force, Lecky said he does not believe racism is a concern among Kamloops RCMP officers. “I don’t see that issue, that concern, in this [detachment],” he
said, noting racism exists in every community, Kamloops included. “I speak what I believe is right. I have the opportunity to influence how we do business. We may have people that make mistakes, but I think you’ll find that anywhere. There are processes in place for that. What we can’t, as a country, deny is that there is over-representation of certain ethnic groups in prisons in this country.” Lecky said he was stationed early in his policing career in the North, where many First Nations people have addictions, housing and education issues — factors that impact segments of the Indigenous population in every corner of the country. “People are almost set up for failure if we don’t have the proper supports set up for them,” he said.
Welcome home Raven and McCoy, a pair of red foxes seized last year by a humane society in Quebec, made their public debut on Monday at the BC Wildlife Park
NEWS/A13
MICHAEL POTESTIO/KTW
See ‘NOBODY’, A18
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