Thunder Bay police respond to allegations trainer was verbally assaulted in race-relations course

Allegations that a facilitator was verbally assaulted by police officers while conducting race-relations training in Thunder Bay are the result of a "misunderstanding", according to the police service.

"You can misread people's tone, attitude and body language in these kinds of sessions," said Chris Adams, executive officer with the Thunder Bay police service.

A training session with police officers in July was shut downafter "things just got really bad" during a discussion on missing and murdered Indigenous women,the facilitator said.

• Police accused of verbal assault during training session on missing, murdered Indigenous women

CBC News has agreed not to name the facilitator because she fears that speaking out could have implications for her employment.

She described "disruptive and dismissive" behaviour byofficers throughout the session and said theyaccused her of lying about the statistics on missing and murdered Indigenous women and asked herfor proof of differential police treatment of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

"Theconcerns were dealt with by the [police] training unit, administration and the city," Adams said.

The city of Thunder Bay trains local volunteers who are paid an honorarium to conduct training sessions for all city staff, including first responders such as police, using the Walk a Mile film series, created by local filmmaker Michelle Derosier.

Derosier is now calling for a public review of the police training as well as the city's use of her films.

"This is part of a bigger narrative that is happening in this country around police and the police state and the relationship to Indigenous women," she said."How do we reach truereconciliationwhen these things are allowed to happen and there's notcommunity response and action?"

The call for a public reviewhas the support of Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu, who is also the Minister of Status of Women, and one of three federal cabinet ministers responsible for the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women.

"I think that the challenge comeswhen things remain underground, when we don't discuss these difficulties," Hajdu said. "I think [Derosier's]idea of having a public conversation is a very valuable one.

"We've heard often that people want law enforcement responses to be more compassionate and more trauma-informed," Hajdu added."I think the initiative around getting there is a difficult one, but a worthwhile one."

Police would welcome a private conversation with Hajdu about the issue,Adams said.

"I'd certainly encourage Patty to pick up the phone and talk to the [police] chief if she has concerns about police in the city," he said. "He's very open to talking to her."