Quebec Superior Court authorizes class-action over traffic stops without reason – Montreal [Video]

A Quebec Superior Court judge has authorized a class action suit brought on behalf of racialized people who were stopped while behind the wheel by police without reason to suspect an offence.

Justice Catherine Piché authorized the lawsuit in a ruling rendered last month, which targets police in eight defendant cities and the Quebec attorney general, which represents the provincial police.

The list of defendants covers police patrolling much of the province, including its largest cities — Montreal and surrounding suburbs, Gatineau and Quebec City.

“It follows that even if we remain cautious at this stage … the present request appears to me to be anything but frivolous,” Piché wrote.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2022 by Papa Ndianko Gueye, following a stop in Longueuil, Que. just south of Montreal.

He represents “any racialized person who has been the victim of racial profiling during a traffic stop without reason …