Quebec coalition filing racial profiling complaint against Terrebonne police over traffic stop
A Quebec man is planning to file a complaint against Terrebonne police after he says he was racially profiled in late October.
Holly Seme said he videotaped the interaction because it's not the first time he's been followed or stopped by police. He said it has happened on about 10 other occasions.
"They wait for me, they follow me, and then they pull me over," Seme said.
This time he was stopped on Oct. 31 in the early hours of the morning, after exiting Highway 25 near Gascon and Moody Streets.
He'd been on his way home after wrapping up a recording session in Montreal.
Seme shared the video with CTV News. It starts with him asking a police officer why she's pulling him over today.
The officer, he said, wouldn't give him a straight answer to his question.
"I asked her for a reason again and she said I didn’t do my stop correctly. She also spoke to me about being drunk," Seme said.
Seme said, however, he hadn't been drinking that night, and that police eventually gave him a ticket for having expired car insurance.
When he realized he had given the Terrebonne officer the wrong insurance papers he tried to correct his mistake, but the police officer was already walking back to her patrol car and so he stayed put in his vehicle.
"If I had come out of the car, maybe they would take it as a threat. There’s a lot of things you can’t do because you’re Black," Seme said.
The Red Coalition, a group that works to fight racial profiling by police in Quebec, is advocating for the Terrebonne resident in this case.
"Where the act of racial profiling comes out is the fact that when she returned to the vehicle she only gave him a ticket for insurance. Where she didn’t even mention insurance prior to that," said Joel Debellefeuille, the group's founder.
The coalition said the problem of racial profiling, in particular, while the person is in a moving vehicle, stems from article 636 of Quebec's Highway Safety Code, which allows police officers to randomly pull over drivers.
"(Article) 636 doesn’t require the police officer to have any type of motives, reason, causes — nothing. That’s the problem," said Alain Babineau, the organization's director of racial profiling and public safety.
That article is now at the centre of a legal battle. A judge recently invalidated random roadside stops by Quebec police forces but the province has decided to appeal the decision.
In a statement to CTV News, Terrebonne police confirmed their officer stopped Seme that morning.
“He was stopped under article 636 of Quebec's Highway Safety Code, for the verification of documents since the physical description did not match the owner registered with Quebec's automobile insurance board. The driver was given a ticket for an expired document," the statement read.
Police suggested Seme could file a complaint with the police ethics commissioner if he thinks he was unjustly targeted.
The Red Coalition plans to do just that on his behalf and will file a complaint with the Quebec Human Rights Commission as well.
"We feel that there’s a misuse and misunderstanding of how to apply article 636 by officers when they’re intercepting Black drivers," Debellefeuille said.
Seme also plans to contest the $173 ticket.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.