Knia Singh – The Man, The Lawyer, The Legend! Part I

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

I want you to take a moment and think about what it must feel like to be a Black person entering a courtroom anywhere in Canada to face a criminal charge. There is a very slim chance that the judge, the prosecutor, or even the defence attorney will be a person of colour. You are left there with the sinking feeling that there is no one there who can relate to your journey in life. You now stand there hoping that someone in this judicial system can, and will be sympathetic to your plight.

For a Black person entangled in the justice system, you are at the mercy of the prosecutor assigned to your case. The prosecutor gets to decide whether to dismiss your case, offer you a plea deal, or have your case proceed to a trial. Coupled with the possibility of having a judge who cannot relate to you as a person, you know you will have challenges in having a fair and impartial journey through the court system.

With issues of carding, false imprisonments and unnecessary prosecutions of Black people in Canada, the Black community needs to make it a point of having our children understand the importance of becoming judges, prosecutors, and defence attorneys. What better way to do this than to have a living, breathing example, one that radiates confidence, maturity, and tenacity.

I have only done a two part series on one other individual. A young woman named Cherie Johnson, whose story was so gripping, I knew that there was no way that I was going to be able to pay homage to her life journey in one feature. Once again, I am faced with such an incredible human being that I knew once I spoke to him, I would have to do part one and part two.

The African Caribbean community is very proud of their legal hero, a man who refuses to shy away from injustices that occur to him, and people in his community. He has become an important voice for the African Caribbean community, and one of the most powerful political candidates to come from Scarborough. As a Black man and an activist, he knows and understands that members of the African Caribbean community are over-represented in the criminal justice system.

“The Number of times I have been stopped for no reason, I actually start to get aggravated with it and I’ll say to the police, ‘Excuse me officer, why are you stopping me?’ I know there is no reason and I didn’t make a wrong turn, I didn’t speed, I didn’t do anything.” Knia Singh (Maat Legal Services)

Knia Singh recognizes the great divide between the haves, and the have-nots. Not only does he recognize the divide, he has experienced what it feels like to be on both sides of that divide because of his work in social justice. It is the have nots that do not feel like their voices are heard, like they are not represented in society. They don’t connect with their elected officials, but thankfully, Knia believes that because of what he has gone through, he is able to bridge the gap and engage the community in a purposeful way.

As we move through Knia’s journey, we will document the times that he ran for office, and why he felt passionately about doing so at different times in his life. What really allows Knia to connect with his community is his ability to speak their language; speak directly to what they are feeling.

“We definitely know people pick up guns because of low socio-economic conditioning and lack of education. I think preventative measures are much more important and needed at this time than just asking for more police. More police will arrest more people but it’s never going to stop the root of gun violence.”

Knia estimates that he has been stopped by the Toronto Police about thirty times, and even though he might get upset because they are infringing upon his right to exist in society, he is not rude. He shows respect for police because he understands the difficulty of their job, and the fact that everyday they put their lives on the line. He does not respect anyone, regardless of their position, if they infringe on the rights of an innocent person, especially African Caribbean males in Toronto who experience this type of treatment.

This is why in 2015; Knia presented a constitutional challenge to the practice of carding by Toronto police. He also did a freedom of information request to the Toronto Police Service and obtained fifty pages of personal data recorded by police, most of it during traffic stops where officers filled out contact cards – formerly called 208’s – with his personal information, or entered the data directly in an in-car computer database as a Field Information Report. The information that was documented about him was incorrect, and this makes you think, how many of our young Black men is this happening too?

Rooted and grounded in his community, Knia has spent years working with youth and young adults, some that do happen to have records. He doesn’t judge them, and it is the reason that so many people turn to him during difficult times. Knia believes everyone is capable of doing well if given the opportunity and the right support. He has for a long time advocated for the fair treatment of all Torontonians regardless of race or socio-economic background.

“For me it’s been all about having a responsible government. It has always been about bridging the gap between the average person and people in power.”

There has been a lot said about the man we know as Knia Singh, but how many of us really know his story. In part two of this Classic Man series, Knia and I speak of family, life, music, law, struggles, challenges, pain and loss. There are parts of his story that have never been told before.

Stay tuned for Part II of Knia Singh; The Man, The Lawyer, The Legend!