Montreal suburb promises police review after fourth profiling complaint upheld
A suburb north of Montreal says it is reviewing its police practices after a string of recent racial profiling complaints against its officers were upheld by a human rights commission.
The Quebec Human Rights Commission most recently found that the City of Repentigny discriminated against Leslie Blot when officers stopped, handcuffed and ticketed him when he was sitting in the passenger seat of a parked car blowing up inflatable toys for his children in 2017.
The commission ruled the evidence supports sending the case to be heard by the province's human rights tribunal unless the city agrees to a settlement that includes paying Blot more than $38,000 and taking several actions to reduce profiling, including collecting race-based data on police stops.
Repentigny police say on their Facebook page they have begun reviewing their practices and are putting together an action plan to make the organization more inclusive, but they did not comment directly on the decision.
Neither Blot, who is Black, nor Fo Niemi of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations has much confidence in the city's promises of change.
Niemi says Blot's case is the fourth time the rights commission has ruled against the city, and each time Repentigny has chosen to allow the file to proceed to the province's human rights tribunal rather than accepting the proposed settlement.
Blot alleges the incident in question was one of many times he was profiled by Repentigny police, and he doesn't see any evidence they've improved their practices.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2021
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.