The civil rights group, which intervened in the Quebec case, said Tuesday’s ruling that random stops enable racial profiling is “monumental” and will lead to meaningful change.
“Our hope is that Quebec will lead the way, that other jurisdictions across Canada will make the same move, hopefully without needing a challenge, and will eliminate the police power for arbitrary stops that have impacted racialized people,” Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, the CCLA’s executive director, and general counsel, told reporters Wednesday.
Mendelsohn Aviv said individual Canadian police chiefs could also make policies forbidding their officers from conducting arbitrary stops.
“It is not a requirement under any law, it is a power that they have that has a tremendously negative impact on young Black men, in particular, in certain parts of Canada, on Indigenous people, on other racialized people,” she said.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Michel Yergeau found that a common law rule allowing police to stop motorists without suspicion of any offence being committed “paves the way” to racial profiling. He said it violates three sections of the Charter: the right to life, liberty and security of person; protection against arbitrary detention; and the guarantee of equality under the law.
The lawsuit was brought by Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a 22-year-old Black Montrealer who said he had been stopped by Quebec police nearly a dozen times without reason. None of those stops resulted in a ticket.
The ruling overturns rules established in a 1990 Supreme Court decision that found random stops were the only way to determine whether drivers are properly licensed, whether a vehicle’s seatbelts work and whether a driver is impaired.
The ruling, which also strikes down a section of Quebec’s Highway Safety Code that relied on the common law power, does not affect structured police programs, such as roadside checkpoints aimed at stopping drunk drivers.
Yergeau suspended the application of the ruling for six months, to give police forces time to adapt.
Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters in Quebec City that his government will analyze the decision before deciding whether to appeal. Legault added that measures are being put in place to fight racial profiling by police and that he has “total confidence” in the province’s police officers.
Laura Berger, a lawyer for the CCLA, described the ruling as “extremely significant” because it directly challenged a police power, it involved three sections of the Charter and it overturned a precedent dating back 32 years.
Quebec’s human rights commission also praised the decision, describing it Wednesday as a “major step forward in the fight against racial profiling.”
The province’s association of police chiefs said in a statement Wednesday that the article of Quebec’s Highway Safety Code that was struck down is needed to ensure motorists respect the rules of the road.
A spokesperson for federal Justice Minister David Lametti declined comment, saying the department needs time to study the decision.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2022.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
