New allegations of police racism evidence nothing has changed, Montréal-Nord residents say

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In Montréal-Nord, there is anger but not surprise.

This is the borough where, in 2008, a Montreal police officer shot and killed an 18-year-old Honduran immigrant. Eighteen years later, disturbing new allegations of police racism are seen by some as evidence that nothing has changed.

The allegations, including claims that police officers in the city’s north end cut the hair of racialized citizens to turn into “trophies,” are also casting doubt on Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher’s efforts to tackle discrimination by the force.

When he announced an internal investigation on Friday, Chief Dagher said he was “deeply shocked” by the situation. Two police officers have been suspended and 14 others have been reassigned for alleged racist behaviour at Station 39.

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But many of those who live in the area say there’s nothing new about police treating them as something less than human. “We find that we aren’t people, in a sense,” said local resident Andy Person. “The police are supposed to protect us.”

Montréal-Nord, a borough in the northeast part of the city, along the Rivière des Prairies, is one of Montreal’s most diverse neighbourhoods. Many of the streets are flanked by low-rise apartment buildings, with Haitian flags hanging from balconies.

People here tell similar stories, whether or not from personal experience. A Black person driving an expensive car can expect to be pulled over, they say. Even those who haven’t had run-ins with police themselves have acquired a certain mistrust. Mr. Person said he worries about being stopped whenever he leaves his house. “It’s stressful,” he said.

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Chief Dagher was sworn in as Montreal police chief in January, 2023, vowing to fight racial profiling. In an interview on Tuesday, Chief Inspector David Shane, head of communications with the force, said the fact that the 16 officers were reported by other employees of the police service is evidence that things are shifting.

“Changing a culture doesn’t happen in just a few years,” he said. “It takes a long time.”

But that’s unlikely to satisfy residents of Montréal-Nord, many of whom still remember the 2008 shooting of Honduran immigrant Freddy Villanueva, which prompted a march that turned violent, with some protesters setting fire to vehicles and looters vandalizing businesses. No charges were brought against the officers involved. An independent public inquiry found in 2013 that the shooting was legally justified on self-defence grounds but unnecessary.

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Mr. Villanueva’s memory was invoked repeatedly at a protest organized Monday evening in response to the new allegations. A few hundred people marched through the streets of Montréal-Nord, as residents watched from their balconies, filming and cheering them on. Their destination was the park where Mr. Villanueva was shot.

“We’ve been talking about racism for 18 years, and nothing has happened,” Cassandra Exumé, general co-ordinator of local advocacy group Hoodstock, told the crowd. “We’ve been protesting for 18 years.”

Stéphanie Germain, a community organizer, said she was about 19 years old when Mr. Villanueva was killed. It was after the shooting, she said, that young people in the neighbourhood realized they were “treated as second-class citizens.”

Anger and frustration were palpable at the event on Monday, which was overseen by a heavy police presence. James Bastien, who came to join the protest from nearby St-Léonard, said he’s been stopped 15 or 20 times over the years while driving. “I’ve never trusted the police,” he said.

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Radio-Canada has reported that the new allegations include traffic tickets being issued to citizens solely on the basis of their ethnic background.

The Supreme Court of Canada is currently weighing the constitutionality of random traffic stops based on the case of a young Montrealer of Haitian descent who said he was repeatedly stopped by police for no apparent reason. Quebec’s highest court previously ruled that the practice leads to racial profiling.

The Montreal police force has long struggled to show it is taking claims of racism seriously. Alain Babineau, a police officer-turned-lawyer who was hired by the service in 2021 to tackle racial profiling, said Black communities in Montreal have been calling out discriminatory behaviour for decades. “There’s been a culture of denial that’s been pervasive for the last 50 years,” he said.

Mr. Babineau left his position after just a year and said he didn’t think the force had a real desire to change. “I felt that I was hired basically as a token,” he said.

The police service should fire the supervisors of the 16 officers, Mr. Babineau said, adding it “would send a very, very, very serious message.” On Tuesday, Chief Insp. Shane confirmed that a “very large proportion” of the 16 officers had just three or four years of service.

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Quebec Domestic Security Minister Ian Lafrenière on Monday announced he would appoint an independent observer to monitor the Montreal police investigation. “I hear the public’s concerns,” he said in a social-media statement. “We all want a transparent process.”

Depending on the findings, Mr. Lafrenière said, the investigation could be transferred to another police force or to Quebec’s police watchdog. He also did not rule out the possibility of a public inquiry.

But amid calls for accountability and transparency, people in Montréal-Nord are asking for something much more basic. “We’re all the same. It’s just the colour of our skin that’s different,” said Mr. Person’s mother, Vrosie Bernard. “The same colour of blood flows through our veins.”

With reports from The Canadian Press