Montreal mayor testifies in $171M racial profiling class-action lawsuit

It was Valérie Plante's turn to testify in a $171-million class-action lawsuit that alleges that the City of Montreal hasn't done enough to combat racial profiling — and she tried to stress the work her administration has done to deal with the problem.

The Black Coalition of Quebec is suing on behalf of people who say they were racially profiled between August 2017 and January 2019. The damages sought amount to about $5,000 per person arrested without valid reason due to their race.

The court will decide the level of financial compensation if the lawsuit is successful.

During Wednesday's hour-long testimony, Plante — who admitted to being nervous and said she had never testified in court — said the city has a "real willingness" to address racial profiling and systemic racism.

"It's being done through trial and error, that I won't deny. But we're moving forward. We're trying things," Plante said.

The mayor said the city sent an "extremely strong message" by vowing to adopt the 38 recommendations issued by the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM), which released a report in 2020 about systemic racism and discrimination at the municipal level.

Plante quickly implemented the consultation agency's top recommendations: she acknowledged the existence of systemic racism and put a member of the executive committee in charge of the fight against racism. Months later, she appointed an anti-racism commissioner.

Mike Diomande, the lawyer representing the plaintiffs, asked the mayor what the city has done — beyond public statements and appointments — to truly make a dent in the issue.

Plante pushed back.

"I have to disagree with the premise of your question. There are plenty of actions," she said, citing the amount of financial resources devoted to the office of the anti-racism commissioner as one example.

Plante also told the court that victims of social and racial profiling have the right to compensation, but it needs to be awarded based on a defined process to avoid wasting taxpayer dollars.

Testimony in the class-action lawsuit began last Wednesday.

Last week, Fady Dagher, Montreal's newest police chief and Yves Francoeur, president of Montreal's police brotherhood, both testified.

'If I had a magic wand'

Diomande made several references to Montreal's 1989 declaration against racial discrimination.

Plante made her public statement about the existence of systemic racism on June 15, 2020, a few weeks after the murder of George Floyd. 

"How do you explain that 31 years later, the city was still trying to find answers when it comes to racial profiling?" the lawyer asked Plante.

The mayor pointed out that it was difficult for her to comment on the work of previous administrations but that addressing racial profiling and racism is a long-term challenge.

"It's sad to think that today, there is still discrimination and racism. We'd like to not be in a world with these disparities but the reality is that it's still like that," she said.

"It's been 31 years, and we're still trying to innovate, we're trying to find [solutions]."

Plante later added: "If I had a magic wand to fix it, we'd do it."

Speaking with reporters after Plante's testimony, both the lawyer and lead plaintiff Alexandre Lamontagne said they believe Plante's testimony bolstered their case.

"I feel like we're headed in the right direction," Lamontagne said.

The court began hearing testimony last Wednesday. Testimony in the lawsuit is expected to wrap up on Feb. 22.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.