Quebec appeals ban on random police traffic stops to Supreme Court
Initial ruling said stops lead to racial profiling, Quebec says ban makes policing difficult
Quebec is hoping to overturn a court-ordered ban on random traffic stops by taking the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said the province is contesting the Quebec Court of Appeal's decision because his ministry believes the court made errors.
"We consider it important to make it so that police have the tools to do their job and we're going to ask the Supreme Court to reconsider the position of the Quebec Court of Appeal and to maintain this very important tool for police work," he told reporters at the National Assembly in Quebec City.
He declined to say what those errors were, saying the details would be unveiled in the province's application to the Supreme Court.
The province had been given six months to change the law, and Jolin-Barrette said they would ask the Supreme Court to suspend the appeals court decision while awaiting a decision from the highest court.
The province's move 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, Article 636, 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 random traffic stops violate Charter rights, including freedom from arbitrary detention and equality rights.
Quebec has argued that the ban would hamper the work of police officers and strip them of a valuable tool.
Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel said he was "very happy" with the decision by the Justice Ministry to contest the ruling, saying they were "coming to the defence of the police."
"Article 636 is immensely important," he said. "Thanks to 636 we save lives and we make the roads safer."
Joel DeBellefeuille, the founder and executive director of the social justice advocacy group Red Coalition, said in a statement that his group was not surprised by the government decision to appeal.
"It tells us that the Quebec government does not see that this section of the Highway Safety Code discriminates against Black and Arab people," he said.
He added that he doesn't want to see Article 636 abolished entirely, but he would like to see a framework established for its application so that it is not misused in cases of racial profiling.
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.
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With files from Antoni Nerestant