CCLA Ready to Defend Landmark Racial Profiling Decision

MONTREAL — Harini Sivalingam, Director of the Equality Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association released the following statement in reaction to the Government of Quebec appealing landmark judgement on racial profiling to the Supreme Court of Canada:

It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the Quebec government is appealing the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal in Luamba — which upheld a landmark 2022 Superior Court decision declaring police powers to conduct arbitrary and suspicionless roadside stops was discriminatory and unconstitutional.

The Court of Appeal’s judgement is a major victory for equality rights in Canada. The Court recognized the harms caused by racial profiling and found that the broad, discretionary power to stop drivers on a suspicionless basis contributes towards racial profiling and is unconstitutional.

If the Supreme Court of Canada grants leave to appeal, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association is ready to defend the Court of Appeal’s decision and argue that no driver, anywhere in Canada, should be subject to useless, abusive, and discriminatory stops on the basis of race.

The expert evidence at trial demonstrated that there is simply no valid public safety justification for allowing these broad police powers to stand. Claiming that the power is necessary to promote “public safety” is an insult to racialized drivers, whose actual safety, dignity, and constitutional rights are at stake every time police carry out an arbitrary stop.

CCLA is represented by our counsel Bruce Johnston, Lex Gill and Louis-Alexandre Hébert-Gosselin of Trudel Johnston & Lespérance.

Relevant Court Documents:
The full judgment of the Court is available here.
A summary prepared by the Court is available here.