Groups, councillor call on Montreal to end discriminatory police checks

Montreal community groups and a local city councillor want a ban on street checks by police.

The coalition of groups announced today they’ll ask the City of Montreal to put a moratorium on the practice.

It comes after Montreal police released the results of an independent study that showed “systemic bias” in conducting street checks.

The Montreal data suggested certain racialized groups — people of Indigenous, black and Arab descent — were more likely to be stopped than others.

The authors wrote that while the situation can’t conclusively be described as racial profiling, systemic bias linked to race is present in police interventions.

The organizations calling for change noted that both Ontario and Nova Scotia have legislated to prohibit street checks after judges ruled that intercepting people in that manner was illegal.

A formal motion for a moratorium will be made by Coun. Marvin Rotrand, who will also invite Quebec to impose a provincewide ban on the practice.

This report by the Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2019.