Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has called for an immediate halt to random police checks as the city's police force faces an internal investigation into racism and racial profiling involving 16 officers. The mayor revealed that her Black husband has been stopped by police at least five times in the past year for no apparent reason.
Mayor's Personal Experience Highlights Issue
“Like many other Black people in our city and the racialized people this happens too many times,” Martinez Ferrada told reporters. She described the stops as occurring for “no reason at all,” echoing concerns raised by community groups over years of alleged profiling.
The mayor's comments followed a late-night press conference by Police Chief Fady Dagher, who announced that more than a dozen officers had been reassigned or relocated while investigators probe claims that they disproportionately targeted Black and Arab residents. Most of the officers are young men with less than five years on the force. Two additional officers have been suspended, and two cases have been submitted to Quebec's director of criminal and penal prosecutions to determine whether criminal charges should be laid.
Allegations Include Cutting Dreadlocks and Ethnic-Based Ticketing
“I was extremely surprised. I didn’t think it was possible in 2026. This is how deeply, deeply hurt I am,” Dagher said, describing the officers as “tarnishing our uniform.” The officers are accused of cutting pieces of dreadlocks from people during police stops and issuing tickets solely based on ethnic background.
Quebec’s new Premier Christine Fréchette called the alleged behavior “unacceptable” but pushed back on the idea that it reflects systemic racism. “For me, it’s a small group that’s behind these organized, repeated actions,” she said of the 16 officers. “That’s not systemic racism. If it’s a small group, it’s not necessarily systemic. For me, systemic means on a larger scale.”
History of Racial Profiling Allegations in Quebec
Allegations of racial profiling and systemic racism within the police force are not new to the province. In 2024, a Quebec judge awarded damages in a class-action lawsuit filed by residents who were racially profiled and arrested without justification by Montreal police. The judge also compensated “physically racialized people” whose rights were violated by police, even when evidence was not recorded.
In her ruling, the judge found that members of racialized groups are over-represented in police stops and that “the plausible explanation for this disparity is the racial profiling that characterizes many arrests.”
Earlier, in 2021, a Quebec coroner concluded that an Indigenous woman who was taunted by nursing staff as she lay dying in a hospital would probably be alive today if she were white, calling her treatment an “undeniable” example of systemic racism.
Mayor Calls Moratorium a First Step
Martinez Ferrada said a moratorium on random checks would be a good “first step” to repair relations with those affected by police behavior. “I think it is also a way to rebuild trust with citizens and it’s something that I think the police should be looking into,” she said. She added that body cameras are crucial but not a complete solution. “This will not solve the problem. This is one tool that we have in our toolbox, but it will not solve the whole thing.”
