On the strength of the major judgment rendered last month in Quebec which invalidated the police power to make roadside interceptions without cause, two class actions have been filed to compensate victims of racial profiling.
On October 25, Judge Michel Yergeau of the Superior Court declared unconstitutional the rule of law which granted this power to the police, qualified by the magistrate as “discriminatory” and contrary to several rights protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A first request for collective action was filed on November 9 for the benefit of “any racialized person who has been the subject of a roadside interception without reason to suspect the commission of an offense”. The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Quebec government are targeted, as well as the police forces of Longueuil, Repentigny, Laval, Blainville, Quebec, Gatineau, Montreal and Terrebonne.
The one who must be the representative for this action is Papa Ndianko Gueye, who has the same lawyers as Joseph-Christopher Luamba, the young man who carried out the legal battle against the police practice.
Two days later, another class action suit was filed in Montreal on behalf of “black people” against the SQ and the Quebec government. The action is being spearheaded by the Ligue des Noirs du Québec, which already has a class action underway against the City of Montreal over racial profiling.
In her most recent, she seeks $5,000 in moral damages and $5,000 in punitive damages for each person who was racially profiled while driving.
Both actions have been filed at the courthouse, but must be given the green light by a judge before they can move forward.
To see in video