CivilSociety: The writer, of course, reflects an American perspective, as he's based in a country where the racial divide is in many places more historically and culturally rooted than here. There's little doubt that systemic racism exists in the Canadian environment, however I think it a mistake to attribute all police shootings and/or killings to this in either country. In Canada, we've seen several disturbing cases where the more problematic common denominator appears to have been mental illness or mental crisis. Each case needs to be examined individually. Otherwise, justice and effective change can't be achieved.