Quebec's Human Rights Commission is recommending the city of Longueuil pay $12,000 in moral and punitive damages in a racial profiling case.
The Commission found in March 2012, two Longueuil police officers trailed Joel DeBellefeuille and asked for identification as DeBellefeuille was driving to daycare with his family.
The officers told him it was a random traffic stop, but DeBellefeuille says those kinds of stops are common for him — he says he's repeatedly been targeted for driving while black.
"It doesn't appear to be getting better, it appears to rapidly getting worse in Montreal as well as Longueuil," DeBellefeuille said.
He and the Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRARR) consider the recommendation a hard-fought victory that may force the south shore municipality into taking concrete steps toward dealing with the problem.
"I feel great. It's fantastic that this is the first monetary recommendation against the city of Longueuil," DeBellefeuille says. "Maybe this will be the first time they take it seriously and actually do want to make change."
Debellefeuille and CRARR expect the city not to pay before Friday. If it doesn't, the file will be taken up in court.
They say this may actually benefit visible minorities by setting a legal precedent against racial profiling by police.