Truth North, directed by Michèle Stephenson, confronts audiences with a historical reality that is often rejected by non-black Canadians in Canada. It is easy to argue that systemic racism is not and has never been a problem in this country because it has never been properly reflected in our media. Unfortunately, Black Canadian history has been overshadowed by Black American history and their stories of the diaspora; the missing narrative has encouraged a belief amongst Canadians that we are inherently better than our US counterparts, a false truth by design.
It is why watching this documentary is deeply uncomfortable because it forces audiences to acknowledge that police brutality and government corruption are deeply woven into our collective psyche, some more than others. Set in the 1960s, True North examines two major events: the 1968 Congress of Black Writers at McGill University and the Sir George Williams Affair (1969) among students at Sir George Williams University. When the university refused to address allegations of racism in grading and faculty behaviour, black students of the diaspora occupied a computer lab in protest.
What began as a peaceful protest with a request to have a negotiation with the faculty descended into manipulation and a violent police confrontation. Naturally, the very white media presented the standoff as a two-sided issue and many black activists were jailed, beaten, and put on watch lists. As a viewer and someone who grew up knowing the history of this brutality, it was refreshing to watch Stephenson’s raw and honest portrayal of events. Her narrative was vivid and infuriating because it highlighted how the white supremacy playbook works every damn time as long as a group of people are willing to view another group of people as less than. The manipulative political violence of the school, police and politicians left me sick and confounded all over again.
Stephenson leaves viewers with a clear and important statement: knowledge is an essential element of dismantling white supremacy, but also, how much is a person supposed to take until fighting back is okay? And when will Canadians come to realize that “political violence” doesn’t begin at riots and physical violence?
True North is playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
