(Montreal) A demonstration will take place on Saturday afternoon in downtown Montreal to denounce racial profiling, but also to mark the third anniversary of the death of George Floyd, this Afro-descendant American killed by a police officer on May 25, 2020.
The march, which will begin at 1 p.m. at Place Émilie-Gamelin, is organized by several community organizations, including Hoodstock, the Collective for the fight and action against racism (CLAR) and the League of Rights and Freedoms Quebec section.
“On the one hand we want to highlight the memory of George Floyd, and on the other we want to denounce the persistence of racial profiling and police discrimination. Of course, these two files are linked, ”says Maxim Fortin, coordinator of the Quebec section of the League for Rights and Freedoms.
“(We hope) that the population will not forget what happened to George Floyd. Let us remember that what happened to George Floyd could still happen today if there are no concrete actions that are taken, ”said Rosine Toguen, member of CLAR.
She stresses that the public must understand that the fight against racism concerns everyone. “Racism should not only be the concern of the victim communities, that is to say, racialized communities, but it must concern the entire population. You don’t have to be a Black, an Arab, or (a member of) the First Nations to fight against racism. Racism should concern all of us,” says Ms.me Togen.
Mr. Fortin explains that the idea for the organizations to come together comes from the “Blacks at the Wheel” initiative, launched last fall by the Coalition Rouge organization. The League was then “grafted into a network of Afro-descendant organizations”, in order to set up a rally against profiling on the road, in Quebec, details the coordinator.
In the wake of this mobilization, we said to ourselves that we had to continue to bring our demands into the public space, that we had to continue to put pressure.
Maxim Fortin, coordinator of the Quebec section of the League for Rights and Freedoms
The group of organizations calls for the recognition of systemic racism by the government of Quebec.
“We would like Quebec to simply apply the Yergeau judgment and transform its laws and regulations according to the Yergeau judgment,” adds Mr. Fortin.
The judgment, rendered in October 2022 by Judge Michel Yergeau, prohibits the interception of vehicles by police officers without valid reason. The decision was challenged by Quebec in November, and is currently before the Court of Appeal.
The court will have to determine if it is possible to put an end to racial profiling without prohibiting the police from carrying out random interceptions.
“We want the CAQ government to change its tune on Bill 14, and move forward with the ban on arrests in public spaces,” added Maxim Fortin.
The coordinator hopes that the public will remember from this march that “the Afro-descendant community and its allies are able to mobilize outside of times when there are tragedies. It is a cause that we must keep on the public agenda, and it is a cause that we must bring to institutions,” he said.
This dispatch was produced with financial assistance from the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for News.