Comment appelle-t-on une personne de race noire conduisant un automobile de luxe à Longueuil ? On appelle ça un Québécois au volant ! Joël De Bellefeuille, un homme de race noire né au Québec, affirme avoir été intercepté sans motifs par la police plus d’une dizaine de fois au cours des 12 dernières années comme « Noir au volant » alors qu'il conduisait son véhicule. Cependant, au cours de ces 12 dernières années, De Bellefeuille est passé de « victime », à « vainqueur », à « leader » !  Read More

Joel DeBellefeuille still remembers when he was racially profiled in 2012. “Racial profiling is sometimes conscious as well as unconscious,” he told Global News, “and in my case, I think it was a bit of both.” He’s glad the Quebec government is investing over $900 thousand in a new police training programme. “The decision by Quebec to help the police force understand what racial profiling is, how it makes people feel, is definitely a step in the right direction,” said DeBellefeuille.  Read More

MONTREAL -- Whatever happens over the next two weeks, Montreal has already taken a new step with its municipal election. There are more diverse candidates than ever -- people from ethnic and religious minorities, and people with disabilities. Many say they arrived at the idea of running after experiencing racism or discrimination and deciding they could help change that for others.  Read More

CDN/NDG has another slate for the municipal elections on November 7. Mouvement Montreal, the party launched by Montreal mayoralty candidate Balarama Holness, has filled its roster of candidates in every district of Montreal’s most populous borough. The three women and two men are all first-time candidates, including Matthew Kerr, running for borough mayor.  Read More

Joel DeBellefeuille is appalled. A hole in the fence at Confederation Park and the veritable jungle of overgrown weeds and bramble are left to linger as if nobody sees them, says the NDG resident. “It is so blatantly obvious…” he laughs, “a new park sign affixed to the same fence with a massive hole.” A council candidate in Loyola for Mouvement Montréal, he's not talking about campaigning or politics. He's talking lawn care and putting the city on notice that it is in default of their obligations under the Montreal Charter of Rights and Responsibilities, something he lays out in a letter to the borough.  Read More

9 human rights complaints filed against Repentigny police since 2017 Holly Cabrera · CBC News · Posted: Aug 06, 2021 4:00 AM ET Pierre Richard Thomas has lived in Repentigny, Que., for six years, and throughout that time, he has dreaded the day when a local police intervention would end with a Black man dying. On Sunday, Aug. 1, it happened. The Black man fatally shot by police was Jean René Junior Olivier, whose mother had called 911 to bring him to hospital because, she says, he was in psychological distress. Thomas co-organized a two-hour sit-in on Wednesday at Repentigny's city hall to commemorate Olivier. And like many in the crowd that evening — including Olivier's family — he blamed racism in the Repentigny police force for the 37-year-old's death.  Read More