At the risk of being bashed from all sides in the above argument, may I suggest that you are not disagreeing in the way that you think you are.
Systemic racism has different definitions from different folks.
So its important to sort what one is talking about.
I do think its unquestionable that racism exists in Canadian and Torontonian society. It would border on the absurd to suggest otherwise. But certainly it is not overtly sanctioned in law or popular culture.
Systemic racism, as I would use the term, refers to actions/policies/procedures etc. that are not overtly racist, but rather have a disproportionately negative effect on one or more racialized groups.
An example might the be the height requirement to be a police officer. Now much reduced, but once six feet tall. There were many sensible reasons to have such a requirement at one time.
Typically based around the ability to physical intimidate or subdue a typical criminal suspect.
The assumptions on which that number was picked were based on the assumption of criminals and police alike as typically being males of a certain age of British or French descent.
While not expressly racist, in a more diverse society, it clearly was more limiting to some groups than others who might have wished to participate in policing; while also being based on an outmoded
perception of criminals.
There was nothing 'racist' about it, as we typically use the word, but it certainly had a negative effect on some racial groups.
Likewise, in the matter being discussed, it is possible that racial prejudice is not a substantial factor in fare enforcement by the TTC (though that merits closer examination)
But the fact that one group seems to be more targeted than others suggests a 'racist' effect, with or without intent.
That effect may be one caused by geography, or socio-economic status, or perhaps some other arbitrary decision on when and where to carry out enforcement action.
But in so far as it effects one group more than others, it would superficially meet the definition (as I understand it) of being systemically racist.
That is to say, in systemic racism, intent is not a requirement; only that the way in which a system has evolved has an adverse effect on a particular group.
It is possible (though I don't think evidence on this is yet clear) that prejudice per se is not the primary factor in the statistics being discussed.
But in so far as it is not, that doesn't make the outcome any less adverse to one group relative to another.