Former RCMP officer alleges racial profiling by Quebec police in complaints

A former Black Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer is filing complaints alleging racial profiling by Quebec police services. Maurice Carvery, along with the Montreal advocacy group Red Coalition, is submitting complaints to the province’s police ethics and human rights commissions over the actions of Quebec provincial police and Longueuil police. The dispute centers around an altercation that occurred on July 24 while Carvery was in Montreal.

According to Carvery, an officer asked him for identification while he was smoking outside a restaurant in Longueuil. He refused to identify himself initially, and more officers surrounded him as he attempted to leave. Carvery claims that an officer pointed a taser at him despite his calm demeanor and refusal to resist. Eventually, Carvery alleges that officers jumped on him, handcuffed him, and threw him to the ground. One officer reportedly removed his phone and deleted parts of the video he had recorded.

Carvery's friend, who was present, informed the officers that he was a former RCMP officer, leading to his release. However, the officers did not inform him that he was under arrest, and he has not been charged. Carvery has previously experienced a similar incident five years ago outside the same Longueuil restaurant, which he reported to then-Longueuil police chief Fady Dagher.

Alain Babineau, director of racial profiling and public safety for Red Coalition, stated that they want to ensure the police forces address Carvery's concerns. He emphasized that police cannot request identification for no reason and that the officers used a smoking bylaw violation as a pretext to obtain his identification. Babineau believes these incidents were racially biased and hopes for real sanctions and accountability to combat racial profiling.