Quebec appealing racial profiling ruling banning police traffic stops without cause

The Quebec government will appeal a Quebec Superior Court ruling that says police can no longer conduct random traffic stops on motorists without cause as it violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Quebec’s Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel along with the Quebec Minister Responsible for the Fight Against Racism, Christopher Skeete made the announcement at a press conference Friday morning adding the status quo does not work and more measures will be put in place to fight racial profiling.

“It’s a question of prevention and security,” said Skeete when asked by journalists why the provincial government was appealing.

He says section 636 of the Highway Safety Code, which allows police officers to conduct random traffic stops without cause, is an important tool for the police to verify things like expired drivers licenses and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

“636 is a very necessary tool, neutral tool, getting rid of 636 will not get rid of racial profiling. We can get rid of racial profiling and keep the tools the police need to keep us safe,” Skeete explained.

In his ruling on Oct. 24, Judge Michel Yergeau said the practice of random traffic stops was arbitrary and a “safe conduct for racial profiling against the Black community.”

“Racial profiling does exist,” Yergeau said. “It is not a laboratory-constructed abstraction. It is not a view of the mind. It manifests itself in particular among Black drivers of motor vehicles.”

The 170-page decision was brought forth after a Black man, Joseph-Christopher Luamba, appealed to the Superior Court after being subject to several random police checks and arrests.

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Luamba had been stopped by police forces of Montreal, Repentigny, Laval and Gatineau nearly 10 times between March 2019 and the filing of his request in November 2020. None of those stops resulted in a ticket. In several incidents, Luamba testified, police did not give him an explanation for why they pulled him over until they were ready to let him go.

Luamba’s goal was to have the random interception of motorists by the police declared unconstitutional.

Community groups had asked the province not to appeal the decision.

But the Association of Quebec Police Directors had said the decision needed to be contested.

“It is important to rebuild the relationship with citizens and their police force,” said Skeete.

The provincial government plans on holding public consultations with those affected by racial profiling and police forces. They say they will also modernize the complaint mechanisms put in place so people trust the system.

“Institutional distrust is one of the reasons people feel angry, but the mechanisms are there and they are very effective. We need to do better at making them believe in those systems and empower people towards those recourses.”

With files from The Canadian Press