Montreal man files complaints against SQ after ‘driving while Black’ traffic stop

A Black man living on Montreal’s north shore has filed civil rights and police-ethics complaints after an altercation with provincial police that ended with his car being towed away.

Leslie Blot told reporters he’s faced regular harassment, on a near-monthly basis, by police forces across the region.

“I would say two months, or two times every two months. Or fifteen times per year,” he said.

Blot says that in December 2020, while getting off Highway 640 in Mascouche, he was pulled over by the Sûreté du Québec. The two constables who stopped him accused him of possessing illegal drugs. Blot says he was carrying allergy medication.

Blot says the SQ officers accused him of having ties to gangs, asking him if he was “familiar with” the organized-crime squads run by Montreal and Laval police.

In the end, after determining his Cadillac Escalade did not have winter tires installed, the officers had the car towed. He was told to come to the vehicle impound with winter tires to be able to have his car released. Blot said he was told by an employee at the impound that towing the car for just not having winter tires on it was “highly unusual.”

The whole incident left Blot feeling like “it’s not safe for Black people to (be) driving around.”

With the help of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) — a non-profit that was founded in Montreal in 1983 to promote racial equality and fight racism — Blot is filing dual complaints against the two officers who stopped him.

The organization’s director-general, Fo Niemi, says it’s far from the first issue that’s been reported in the region — in fact, Niemi says, CRARR has “around 20” active complaints against police in the lower Lanaudière region.

“It’s an area that has seen, in the last five to 10 years, an increasing migration of people of colour, mostly Black and Arab Montrealers who have decided to move to those suburban communities,” he explained. That has left local police, in particular, unprepared for how to appropriately police the new, racialized members of their community.

Niemi added the situation is all the more upsetting given that Quebec Premier François Legault represents a riding anchored in the region — l’Assomption.

“In this administrative region, represented by the premier of Quebec, complaints of racial profiling keep pouring in,” Niemi said.

He said swift and determined action from the province and the SQ to correct the issue would set a strong precedent for their local partners in the area.

The incident involving Blot proves that racial-profiling in Greater Montreal is “not just about municipal police departments,” Niemi said. “The SQ has to also lead by example.”

Blot said he hopes change is near.

“I’m tired. I’m tired of being (stopped) like this,” he said. “I’m tired of racial profiling.”

When reached for comment on this story by phone, the SQ told Global News to “call back in an hour.” An hour later, they did not answer the phone.