On October 25, 2022, Justice Michel Yergeau of the Superior Court of Québec rendered a landmark decision on racial profiling by declaring unconstitutional the power of police services to stop any driver without cause. TJL had the privilege of representing the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (“CCLA”) as an intervener in the action brought by Mr. Joseph-Christopher Luamba.
When this decision comes into effect, police officers will no longer be allowed to conduct traffic stops without cause, as this right constitutes a “loophole through which racial profiling”, “that insidious form of racism”, can be carried out. As the judge rightly points out, such traffic stops are intolerable “since they are based on more or less conscious appearances and prejudices associated with the colour of the skin rather than on any traffic safety objective”.
To read the judgment, you can click here (French only).