Judge Finds Quebec Police Force Guilty Of Racial Profiling Black Motorists

Quebec has a deep history of racism and racial profiling of minorities, but its Premier would have Canadians think otherwise

Racial profiling is a common problem in Canada and more so in the province of Quebec against people of colour and those of Indigenous heritage. Of course, it does not help when Premier François Legault makes dumb comments stating Quebec does not have systematic issues with race, more so isolated incidents. Naturally, after the rich, entitled Legault faced a backlash from the community, he walked back his statements. 

When the issue of being ignorant of the blatant, disgusting behaviour of issues surrounding racism in Quebec comes from the top, it is known to wonder why Police officers feel they can racially profile minorities with impunity.

On Wednesday, the Quebec Police Department was found guilty of racial profiling in a long-drawn-out case brought by a young black man. 

Joseph-Christopher Lumba, a 22-year-old Black Montreal resident, filed a lawsuit against the Police for racial profiling. According to Luamba, he was unlawfully pulled over at least ten times by Police and never once been ticketed or arrested. Lumba’s only crime was driving while Black.

In a detailed 170-page judgment, Judge Yergeau wrote,

“Racial profiling does exist. It is not a laboratory-constructed abstraction … It is a reality that weighs heavily on Black communities. It manifests itself in particular with Black drivers of motor vehicles.”

“Charter rights can no longer be left in thrall to an unlikely moment of epiphany by the Police. Ethics and justice must go hand in hand to turn this page.”

Judge Yergeau ordered the practice of Police racially profiling Black citizens to stop, while the lawyer’s province insists it’s within the powers afforded to them. 

Too often, the Police stop and search Black individuals without reason. This form of discrimination is wrong and must be stopped. Police should target criminals without regard to race or ethnicity. Doing so would make Quebec a better place for Black Canadians to feel safe.

Racial profiling is a severe issue that needs to be discussed openly, and now that the court has confirmed that Police unfairly target Black Quebecois, how do they fix a badly broken system? This type of discrimination is cruel and only leads to further distrust among Police.

The terrible experience of driving while being Black in Quebec and being harassed by the Police is shared by too many members of the Black community. People throughout the province continued to complain about how The Police were targeting black People, and no one did anything about it. 

The racial profiling revealed by these complaints was appalling. The cops targeted Black people for criminal behaviour in areas full of black residents and tourists. In several instances, cops were found guilty of racial profiling. For example, a Police officer forced a Laval motorist to delete evidence off his mobile phone of the arresting officer’s physically assaulting him. The individual sued the Laval Police department and won.

Racial profiling is a severe problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Innocent individuals are frequently targeted due to bias from law enforcement agencies in Quebec and throughout Canada. Racial profiling leads to numerous civil rights issues and lawsuits against law enforcement agencies as citizens consistently identify as victims of this treatment. Anyone who has been a racial profiling victim should report it immediately. Only then can we have a just society where people are not discriminated against and harassed due to the colour of their skin.