Recognizing racial profiling by police key to ‘historic’ ruling, Montreal lawyer says
Mike Diomande says the decision released Tuesday was “historic” because it establishes that racialized people in the city were victims of profiling and that their Charter rights were violated.
A Montreal lawyer who co-led a successful class-action lawsuit against the City of Montreal for police racial profiling emphasizes that the most significant outcome is not the financial compensation but the acknowledgment of prejudice.
Mike Diomande described the decision, released on Tuesday, as "historic" because it officially recognizes that racialized individuals in Montreal were victims of profiling and had their Charter rights violated.
His comments came after a Superior Court judge ruled that racial profiling is a "systemic" issue within the Montreal police force, entitling victims to compensation of up to $5,000.
The lawsuit was initiated by the Black Coalition of Quebec, which had been pursuing the case for years.
The lead plaintiff, Alexandre Lamontagne, a Black man, was stopped by Montreal police after leaving a bar in Old Montreal in 2017.
Diomande said his client was relieved that, after a seven-year legal fight, the arrest was acknowledged as racial profiling.
He added that the ruling could set a legal precedent and pave the way for similar class-action lawsuits in other Canadian cities.
