Quebec told Longueuil police to disregard court order on racial profiling, says anti-racism group
An anti-racism group says it has copies of email exchanges to support its claims that Quebec told the City of Longueuil to disregard a court order on racial profiling.
Joel DeBellefeuille, executive director of the Red Coalition, said he’s been pulled over by police a dozen times in the past 15 years.
In 2012, Longueuil police followed him and his family as they were dropping off his son at daycare. As a result of that incident, he was awarded $12,000 in damages.
But it’s what he found while following up on that case that shocked him
"I was really floored," he said in an interview Tuesday.
As a result of his case, a human rights tribunal ruled Longueuil police had to start collecting and publishing race-based data for police stops by 2021. DeBellefeuille has long claimed the city was defying the ruling.
And now he obtained exchanges between the Longueuil police chief and the human rights commission. In one dated Sept. 29, 2021, then-police chief Fady Dagher, writes the ministry informed him it was working on guidelines for all police forces to collect race-based data.
Dagher writes, "the public security ministry asked Longueuil police to wait for this solution to be put in place," adding he believed it should be ready by the end of 2021.
Dagher is set to become Montreal's next police chief.
In a follow-up exchange a few months later, Dagher writes the policy will be deployed "in the first quarter of 2022." DeBellefeuille says he's still waiting to see that policy.
"How many cases do you think from the last two-and-a-half, three years could have potentially been avoided? It could have potentially deterred some officers from intercepting people based [on] their appearance and racially profiling them?" he said.
On Nov. 18, 2022, lawyer Julius Grey sent, on behalf of DeBellefeuille, a letter to the City of Longueuil warning that it was "in breach" of the court judgment, Noovo Info reported.
"We hereby put you on notice to comply with all provisions of said judgment within 5 days upon receipt of this notice," the letter reads.
"Should you fail to comply, we will take out legal proceedings against you without any further warning nor delay, and we will pursue the highest legal penalty possible in this matter."
DeBellefeuille told CTV that the city will be in Superior Court in Longueuil Thursday to respond to an allegation of contempt of court over the delay in obeying the court order.
Dagher declined to comment on the email exchanges when reached by CTV News.
A spokesperson for the Longueuil police said in an email that the public security ministry never asked them to defy the court order or break the law.
Louise Quintin, a Public Safety Ministry (MSP) spokesperson, told CTV it would never make such a request.
"The MSP has been working for more than a year to implement a framework and mechanism for data collection on police stops ... a first capsule of the new plan will be delivered in the spring of 2023," she wrote in a statement.
DeBellefeuille still wonders why it's taking so long he said if police are serious about ending racial profiling, they should start following the human rights tribunal's ruling immediately.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.