Montreal mayor says Black husband stopped six times

Debate over policing practices in Montreal has intensified following renewed political calls to suspend street checks and fresh data suggesting persistent racial disparities in who is stopped by officers. The issue has returned to the centre of public discussion after both municipal leadership and academic researchers highlighted what they describe as entrenched patterns in police interactions with racialized communities

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has urged the provincial government to consider a moratorium on police checks, describing it as a necessary early step in addressing concerns about racial profiling. Speaking in a recent interview on Radio Canada’s Tout un matin, she pointed to her own family experience, noting that her husband, who is Black, was stopped while driving “at least five or six times for nothing” over the past year. “Just to check. Check what? We don’t know,” she said.

The mayor argued that such experiences are not isolated. “We have to start by calling things what they are,” she said, adding that public debate should not avoid the question of systemic racism. Her comments came days after Montreal police confirmed that 16 officers in the Montréal Nord borough are under investigation for alleged racist and hateful conduct targeting Black and Arab residents.

Provincial leaders have rejected the notion that systemic racism exists in Quebec, maintaining their position despite growing pressure from municipal officials and community groups.

New academic findings have added weight to the discussion. A research team examining police stop data across Quebec reported that Black residents in Montreal were four times more likely to be stopped than white residents, while Arab residents were five times more likely. In Laval, the disparities were even higher, with Black individuals four times more likely and Arab individuals seven times more likely to be stopped.

The analysis, led by sociology professor Victor Armony of the Université du Québec à Montréal, compared data from 2024 with previous years. Armony said the pattern cannot be reduced to isolated misconduct. “This stems from a systemic issue,” he said. “The main danger here is just to say this is a bunch of individuals who are racist and this is isolated. That’s exactly the false response.”

Even when accounting for crime rates, the report found Black individuals were still stopped at a rate approximately 47 per cent higher than white residents. Researchers also noted that available data on Indigenous people was too limited for firm conclusions, though earlier studies suggested higher stop rates.

The report recommends ending arbitrary street checks across the province, echoing a position previously advanced by the same research group. The findings arrive as legal challenges continue over the practice, following court rulings that random stops violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That case, initiated by Montrealer Joseph Christopher Luamba, involved multiple police stops over an 18-month period.

Community organisations have since renewed calls for a public inquiry into policing practices. Martinez Ferrada said she would consider such an inquiry, provided it does not interfere with ongoing investigations. Quebec officials have appointed an observer to the internal probe and have not ruled out a future inquiry once proceedings conclude.

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  Montreal Quebec