A Canadian court has ruled that random traffic stops are unconstitutional, striking down the “unbounded power” of police in searches that often amount to racial profiling.
A Quebec superior judge on Tuesday ruled that police cannot pull over drivers without cause.
“Racial profiling does exist. It is not a laboratory-constructed abstraction. It is not a view of the mind. It is a reality that weighs heavily on black communities. It manifests itself in particular among black drivers of motor vehicles,” Judge Michel Yergeau said.
Photo: REUTERS
“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,” he said.
Yergeau’s ruling, which he has suspended for six months, invalidates the police power to conduct a “roving random stop.”
The case against the Canadian and Quebec provincial governments was brought by Montreal resident Joseph-Christopher Luamba, who told the court that in the 18 months after he got his driver’s license in 2018, he was pulled over nearly 10 times for no reason, both as a passenger and a driver.
Luamba, who is black, said he was never issued a fine or a ticket, and the jarring experience has meant he is always ready to pull over whenever he sees a police vehicle.
“This is a significant victory against racial profiling for the many black, indigenous and other racialized people who have been disproportionately stopped by police for decades,” Canadian Civil Liberties Association equality program director Gillian Moore told a news conference on Wednesday. “This decision represents not only the potential for hugely impactful change in Quebec, but also the hope for this change across Canada.”
Yergeau said random traffic stops contravene multiple sections of the Canadian constitution, including section 7, on the right to life, liberty and security of the person; section 9, on freedom from arbitrary detention or imprisonment; and paragraph 15, which guarantees equal protection.
“The preponderant evidence shows that over time, the arbitrary power granted to the police to carry out roadside stops without cause has become for some of them a vector, even a safe conduit for racial profiling against the black community,” Yergeau said.
The court’s ruling clashes with a 1990 Canadian Supreme Court decision, which found random stops were the only way for police to determine if a driver was impaired or properly licensed.
Yergeau cautioned that his ruling applied narrowly to the random stops and was not a broader statement on systemic racism.
Checkpoints to stop and inspect possibly impaired drivers would still be permitted, he said.
The Quebec government has not indicated if it plans to appeal.
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