Court of Appeals: Random stops = racial profiling
By Dan Laxer
The Suburban
The law permitting police to make random traffic stops does indeed lead to racial profiling. The highest court in the province has said so, affirming two earlier rulings.
In 2022 the Superior Court made the judgment. Last week the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the landmark ruling. In 2022, Justice Michel Yergeau had ruled in the case of Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a Black resident of Montreal who had been pulled over several times by police – nearly a dozen, the court heard. Luamba, along with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association as interveneor, argued that the section of the Quebec Highway Safety Code that allows for random stops goes against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Evidence presented at the time showed that random stops disproportionately affected young Black drivers.
“Racial profiling does exist,” Justice Yergeau ruled in 2022. “It is a reality that weighs heavily on Black communities. It manifests itself in particular with Black drivers of motor vehicles.” Last Wednesday the Quebec Court of Appeal agreed, unanimously upholding the ruling.
The ruling came as Premier François Legault continues to insist that systemic racism does not exist in Quebec.
Public Security Minister François Bonnardel took to his X account to air his dissatisfaction with the ruling, saying “this was obviously not the desired result,” adding the ruling could adversely affect the work of the police in keeping the public safe. “We will take the time to analyze the judgment,” he posted.
If the government decides to appeal the ruling it could go to the Supreme Court of Canada. If they choose to accept the ruling, it would mean changes to that section of the Highway Code will go into effect in six months.
The Court of Appeal ruling happened to coincide with the case of another Montreal man, Nigel Berkley who, with the backing of Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), is accusing Montreal police of racial profiling. Berkley says he’d been pulled over at least four times in the past eight months.
The Red Coalition reacted swiftly to the ruling, calling on elected officials to publicly condemn racial profiling, and to oppose any government appeal. n
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