A newcomer to Montreal is calling on the city to act against racial profiling by Montreal police.
Jason Withrow was stopped by police after leaving a restaurant in Ste. Anne de Bellevue last week and charged with refusing to take a breathalyzer test.
The North Carolina native has lived in Montreal for four years and said his French is weak and that he only understood after a supervisor arrived that he was being asked to take a breathalyzer test.
Withrow, who does not drink, questioned why that was necessary, at which point his Audi was seized and his driver's licence suspended for 90 days.
"I was feeling scared. I felt very vulnerable and I felt like I wasn't human. Almost like I felt like I was somewhat of an animal, like I wasn't supposed to be there, like they were trying to trap me," said Withrow.
Under the criminal code it is an offence to disobey the orders of a police officer trying to determine a driver's sobriety -- and that means refusing to blow into a breathalyzer is a criminal offence.
Quebec's Highway Safety Code allows police to seize a vehicle and suspend an individual's licence on the spot.
Withrow is now working to get his licence and car back.
He will have to wait 30 days to retrieve his car and pay close to $1,000 in impound fees.
His licence has been suspended for 90 days.
CRARR is assisting Withrow in preparing a criminal defence, and says police officers working in the West Island should be expected to have passable English.
