Chief Dagher expressed being \u201cextremely surprised\u201d and \u201cdeeply hurt\u201d<\/a> by the revelations. Montreal mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada called<\/a> them \u201cextremely disturbing.\u201d Montreal-North borough mayor Christine Black referred<\/a> to the allegations as \u201cunacceptable\u201d and urged citizens to report incidents of racism involving the police.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, while the city is reeling from the news, Montreal-North residents and anti-racism activists \u2014 long denouncing unfair and unwarranted police checks \u2014 have barely raised an eyebrow. They say they\u2019re shocked that people are shocked.<\/p>\n \u2018Finally, it\u2019s coming out\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Documentary filmmaker and activist Will Prosper grew up in Montreal North and feels a mixture of relief and fatigue at the news. \u201cFinally, it\u2019s coming out,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve denounced these incidents for years, but police officers finally had the courage to say something about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Prosper says racial profiling has been a part of his life ever since he can remember. \u201cThe first thing that came with my driver\u2019s licence,\u201d he says, \u201cwas a police escort, but not for the right reasons. I\u2019ve been pulled over by the police over 50 times, and I don\u2019t have a criminal record.\u201d<\/p>\n While he no longer lives in the borough, Prosper says it\u2019s frustrating to know that what he experienced growing up is still being experienced by Black youth today. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d he says. \u201c I always knew this was wrong, but I thought it was normal. It\u2019s only when you get out of the neighbourhood that you realize it\u2019s not the same reality for other folks.\u201d<\/p>\n After the 2008 shooting death of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva<\/a> (a Honduran immigrant with no criminal record playing dice in a Montreal-North park with friends) by a police officer from Station 39, Prosper co-founded Hoodstock, a social-justice organization that provides free legal aid and other services to local residents. Hoodstock is one of many community organizations now pushing for an independent investigation, adamantly rejecting the internal investigation that Quebec\u2019s Minister of Domestic Security, Ian Lafreni\u00e8re, has decided upon.<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s the police investigating the police I\u2019m not remotely hopeful that anything will come of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope they have the courage to truly investigate this,\u201d Prosper says. \u201cBut if it\u2019s the police investigating the police I\u2019m not remotely hopeful that anything will come of it.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s unsurprising many don\u2019t trust an internal inquiry. The officer who shot and killed Villanueva faced no criminal charges. Quebec\u2019s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquetes independantes (BEI), created after public outrage at Villanueva\u2019s death, has rarely resulted in criminal charges for police officers. <\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m used to it. This happens often\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Samuel Bunche was just 12 years old when Villanueva was killed \u2014 the exact same age he was when he was handcuffed by the police for the very first time. \u201cI was on the way to the park,\u201d he says, \u201criding on my friend\u2019s handlebars, when they stopped us, handcuffed and humiliated me.\u201d<\/p>\n Since then, he\u2019s been stopped more than 100 times. \u201cI\u2019m used to it,\u201d he says. \u201cThis happens often. It\u2019s exhausting, and they never find anything.\u201d<\/p>\n The martial artist made headlines in 2020<\/a> after he sued the City of Laval (a Montreal suburb) for damages after an encounter with Laval police left him feeling \u201chumiliated\u2019 and \u201ctraumatized.\u201d<\/p>\n Bunche says he was in a car (as a passenger) with his brother and a friend when police pulled them over for no reason and told them they were violating Covid-19 physical-distancing rules. (No such rules were in effect yet.) When Bunche questioned the police\u2019s actions, he was handcuffed and assaulted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe dragged me out of the car by my locs and kneed me in the face for no reason\u201d says Bunche. \u201cThey assumed we had drugs in the car and brought the K-9 unit.\u201d Bunche would later sue the City of Laval for $275,000 in damages, forcing them to cancel the social-distancing ticket and eventually settle out of court. \u201cFor three years, they insisted they had a valid reason for stopping us,\u201d he says. \u201cThey finally admitted it was racial profiling.\u201d<\/p>\n Born and raised in Montreal-North, Bunche says he vividly remembers when Villanueva was killed. \u201cI was too young to fully understand what it meant,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I remember thinking, \u2018This is someone from my neighbourhood, who lived in and hung out at the same places I did, and he was killed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The recent news surrounding Station 39 hasn\u2019t surprised him but has left Bunche feeling frustrated. \u201cWe\u2019ve been filing lawsuits for years,\u201d he says. \u201cYet nothing was ever taken seriously. To see authorities now acting surprised and claiming they didn\u2019t know\u2026 But they did know because we\u2019ve been telling them for years. We\u2019re talking 16 cops and two supervisors. It wasn\u2019t an isolated problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Prosper shares similar sentiments. \u201cFor a while, I stopped being vocal about this,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause every time I spoke on these issues I felt like a band playing the same song. And yet people were still surprised by that song.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Systemic problems require systemic remedies\u2019<\/p>\n With public trust in Montreal\u2019s police force shaken, mayor Martinez Ferrada has publicly called for a moratorium on random police street checks. She also wants to accelerate the implementation of body cameras for police (which many community activists don\u2019t see as a solution.) Chief Dagher has rejected calls for a moratorium on street checks<\/a>, saying he prefers a systemic cultural shift within the police force.<\/p>\n That cultural shift may be taking longer than some are willing to wait. News that most of the patrol unit currently under investigation was composed largely of newer recruits is troubling.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor a while, I stopped being vocal about this,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause every time I spoke on these issues I felt like a band playing the same song. And yet people were still surprised by that song.\u201d<\/p>\n That culture of impunity may also be enabled in a province where systemic racism isn\u2019t even recognized by the provincial government<\/a>, and where even the concept of systemic racism has been greeted as a direct attack on Quebecers themselves.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOf course systemic racism exists,\u201d says Alain Babineau, a retired RCMP officer, jurist, and advocate with the Red Coalition, an anti-racism organization. \u201cQuebec isn\u2019t immune from systemic racism in its institutions and service delivery. That includes policing. And clearly the system allows it, because when folks are caught red-handed they face few, if any, repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n The Red Coalition recently filed complaints with the police ethics and human rights commissions over the Station 39 allegations, as well as with the province\u2019s ombudsperson, calling on them to investigate systemic racism within the force. <\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t dismantle systemic problems without systemic remedies,\u201d says Babineau. \u201cWe\u2019ve therefore taken it upon ourselves to use the channels and official bodies available to us to conduct independent investigations.\u201d<\/p>\n The types of complaints they file, he says, are systemic-based. \u201cIt\u2019s not two or three bad apples,\u201d he says. \u201cIt would be a quick fix if that were the case.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018To be treated equally and fairly\u2019<\/p>\n Multiple independent studies have long documented systemic bias in street checks. A 2019 report<\/a> found Indigenous and Black Montrealers were four to five times more likely than white Montrealers to be stopped by police. Young Arab Montrealers were four times more likely than white residents of the same age to be targeted for street checks. A follow-up report in 2023 showed little progress had been made<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The revelations sparked a class-action lawsuit on behalf of victims of racial profiling and in 2024, a Quebec Superior Court Justice ruled that racial profiling is a \u201csystemic\u201d problem within the Montreal police force. The City of Montreal decided to appeal the ruling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not two or three bad apples,\u201d he says. \u201cIt would be a quick fix if that were the case.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not anti-police,\u201d says Babineau. \u201cAll we\u2019re requesting and demanding is fair and equitable policing to all communities. To be treated as human beings; equally and fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n Prosper, who\u2019s currently working on a documentary on Villanueva, emphasizes the need for an inclusive inquiry. \u201cWe need to make sure citizens are involved \u2014 beyond the judge \u2014 to reassure the population that they can come and share what they\u2019re living.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As a father, he says he worries \u201cbig time. I\u2019ve had \u2018the talk\u2019 with my son,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause I want him to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n As calls for an independent inquiry mount, community advocates, politicians and Montreal\u2019s police chief debate how to best restore civic confidence and strengthen police accountability.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t trust them,\u201d says Bunche. \u201cI\u2019m not supposed to be scared of the police, but that\u2019s the feeling I have every time I\u2019m pulled over.\u201d<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-11.37.42-AM.png\")
Will Prosper<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MAYU2462-1620x1080.jpg\")
Samuel Bunche holds a sign demonstrating at Station 39 in Montreal Nord on June 15 to protest racism at Montreal\u2019s police force, followed by a march through the neighbourhood. Chants denounced the SPVM as a racist organization and called out the names of those killed by local police in recent years. Photo by William Wilson via Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-07-at-11.34.59-AM.png\")
Alain Babineau<\/p>\n