The Supreme Court of Canada has started hearing a case about whether it's constitutional for police to make random traffic stops without reasonable suspicion the driver has committed an offence.
The case involves Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a Montrealer of Haitian descent who said he was repeatedly stopped by police for no apparent reason when he was driving or riding in cars. None of the stops resulted in a ticket.
Quebec's Superior Court declared the law on random traffic stops inoperative in 2022 on the grounds it led to racial profiling, and the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling in 2024.
A lawyer for the Quebec government argued today that the lower-court decisions deprive police of an important tool to enforce road safety rules.
But Luamba's lawyer told Canada's highest court that police stops aren't truly random — he said they are "arbitrary" and disproportionately affect Black drivers and violate their rights.
The Supreme Court is being asked to weigh in on whether stopping drivers with no apparent reason violates the Charter, and whether the Quebec judges made an error when they invalidated a 1990 Supreme Court decision that upheld the practice of random stops.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
