Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has said her husband, who is Black, has been stopped by police while driving at least “five or six” times over the past year despite having done nothing wrong.
“He’s been pulled over, easily five or six times in the last year for no reason at all,” Martinez Ferrada said Friday on Radio-Canada’s Tout un matin.
Montreal police are facing scrutiny over allegations of racism and racial profiling within a Montreal North patrol unit. Two officers have been suspended. Fourteen others have been reassigned or relocated while an internal investigation examines claims that officers disproportionately targeted Black and Arab residents.
Martinez Ferrada said her husband’s repeated encounters with police reflected a broader reality experienced by many Black Montrealers.
“While driving his car each time?” the journalist asked.
“Yes, just for a check,” she said. “Check what? We don’t know.”
The mayor has previously called for an independent investigation into allegations of racist conduct within the police force.
“Montrealers deserve to know the whole truth about what happened,” she said last week.
The allegations emerged last week when Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher announced an internal investigation into a patrol team operating in Montreal North.
Officers reportedly made racist remarks and disproportionately targeted Black and Arab citizens. Some officers also collected pieces of locs – also known as dreadlocks – from at least one person they apprehended and kept them as trophies.
The revelations immediately prompted outrage among community leaders. On Monday, Black community organizations called for a public inquiry into racism within the police service.
Joel DeBellefeuille, president of the Red Coalition, an advocacy group that fights racial profiling, said: “The difference this time is that they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar,” he told reporters.
The Gazette has reached out to the Montreal police for comment but did not receive a response before publication.