Three Quebec universities offer or will soon offer a course on racial profiling, the first of its kind in Canada. “Everything has to be done” in this area of law, according to one of the instigators of the training.
The course was given for the first time in the summer of 2021 at the University of Ottawa. “The enthusiasm was undeniable. The University accepted almost instantly [de l’intégrer au cursus]. The sixty places were quickly filled,” says Mr.e Fernando Belton, who gives this training.
The University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) has followed suit with the University of Ottawa and is offering this course this summer. McGill University will give it this fall, while next winter, the University of Montreal will offer these lessons to its students.
This law course, set up with the collaboration of Rhita Harim, is intended for lawyers, recalls Ms.e Belton. “This is not a militant course. This is not a course where people are called to take to the streets with their fists in the air. Rather, it is about learning to navigate “in criminal, penal or administrative law” to equip future lawyers.
“It may seem simple, but pleading a case of racial profiling is complicated in court,” explains the teacher. The lawyers often face municipalities with very extensive financial means, while the plaintiffs generally come from modest backgrounds. Sometimes, “we have to finance the file from A to Z”, says Me Belton, who salutes in passing the support provided by the Legal Clinic of Saint-Michel. “We are not on equal terms in these cases. »
Again this week, racial profiling has returned to the forefront of the legal scene. The Human Rights Tribunal condemned the City of Repentigny to pay $8,000 to François Ducas for an unjust arrest. This judgment, although it recognizes the existence of racial profiling, disappoints Me Belton by the small amount of compensation, considering the five years of litigation.
Judges still cautious
Racial profiling is on the way to becoming a major object of dispute for the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse. No less than 86 investigation files were opened for this reason last year, an increase of 87% since 2018. “This is a subject on which we are regularly questioned, as, for example, in the framework of public hearings on the reality of the police”, we note in the last annual report of the Commission.
The judiciary is struggling to grasp the nuances of these challenges, according to Ms.e Belton, himself trained at UQAM. “In three years, the Tribunal [des droits de la personne] made three decisions,” he said. In the vast majority of cases, the file is “closed for lack of evidence”. And even if the verdict is finally rendered in favor of the plaintiff, “we do not pronounce on the merits of the case, racial profiling”.
“There is a definite need, because we feel that judges and lawyers juggle with concepts without understanding them. […] Judges are afraid of making a mistake,” he says. Hence the idea that “the solution will go through education”.
Most of the principles of law taught in his course come from Ontario and are written in English. In Quebec, “the most recent doctrines date from 2006. Everything needs to be done in this area”.
The hundreds of students who will take this elective course could change the face of the law in the coming years, hopes Mr.e Belton. “There is work for at least the next ten years before having a law society that understands these issues,” he concludes.