Victoria/Ottawa, ON / unceded Anishinabe Algonquin Territory – The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) will make oral arguments as an intervenor at the Supreme Court of Canada in Attorney General of Quebec v Luamba. This pivotal two-day hearing will determine the constitutionality of police powers to conduct random vehicle stops without specific suspicion of an offence due to the significant presence and impacts of racial profiling on Black individuals and communities, a phenomenon known as “driving while Black”.
The case centres on Mr. Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a Black man who has experienced racial profiling through multiple traffic stops and proved at trial that these so-called “random” stops violate three essential Charter rights: s. 7 (life, liberty, and security of the person), s. 9 (freedom from arbitrary detention), and s. 15 (equality rights). The trial judge found that racial profiling is an unconscious bias that seeps into the discretion of police officers where they have unfettered discretion and inadequate statutory safeguards, leading to the overrepresentation of Black people in these stops. The Quebec Court of Appeal largely upheld this decision.
BCCLA argues that s. 7 liberty rights must be understood within their social context, emphasizing that equality is the soul of liberty. Random traffic stops violate the liberty of racialized people to move freely and maintain psychological integrity without interception based solely on race. Random traffic stops, outside of a roadblock, are arbitrary and not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice because they have no rational connection to improving road safety.
“Contrary to what the Quebec government wants to argue, this case is not about brief, innocuous detentions on the side of the road,” stated Ga Grant, BCCLA Litigation Staff Counsel. “The trial judge was right to find that this case is about permitting the continued social oppression of Black and racialized people by the state. It is about substantive equality and fundamental freedom for Black people in Canada to move around without racism. We hope that the Court will uphold the trial decision and set a landmark precedent limiting racism in “driving while Black” and the types of unlimited discretionary powers that enable racism.”
BCCLA is represented by Vincent Larochelle and Ga Grant, BCCLA Staff Counsel.
BCCLA’s factum is available here.
