Quebec is hoping to overturn a court-ordered ban on random traffic stops by police by appealing the landmark decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, Radio-Canada has learned.
The Quebec government’s decision comes after it lost twice in lower courts.
In 2022, Superior Court Justice Michel Yergeau issued a ruling which stated that the provision in the province’s Highway Safety Code which allows police officers to stop drivers without cause should be invalidated.
Yergeau said the random stops lead to racial profiling.
“Racial profiling does exist. It is not a laboratory-constructed abstraction. It is not a view of the mind. It is a reality that weighs heavily on Black communities. It manifests itself in particular among Black drivers of motor vehicles,” Yergeau wrote in his ruling.
“Charter rights can no longer be left in thrall to an unlikely moment of epiphany by the police. Ethics and justice must go hand in hand to turn this page.”
In October of this year, the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld that ruling in a unanimous decision that said the random traffic stops violates Charter rights, including freedom from arbitrary detention and equality rights.
Quebec has argued that the ban would hamper the work of police officers.
Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a Black Montrealer, filed the initial legal challenge.
He said he had been stopped by Quebec police nearly a dozen times without reason, and none of the stops resulted in a ticket.
This story will be updated.