By Emilie Nicolas, Le Devoir, June 18, 2026
On Tuesday morning in Montréal-Nord, the Association of Haitian-Born Activists hosted more than just a press conference. For me, it was a gathering of many familiar faces—civil society actors of all kinds, from the neighborhood and beyond. Because every time Quebec’s leaders say they are “shocked,” “surprised,” or “devastated” by the existence of racism—yes, yes, right here at home—a sense of public service takes hold of some of us. Here we go again. Let’s see if we can make progress. Broaden the horizon of what’s politically feasible, even just a little. Produce more reports, expert analyses, archives, and precedents that those who come after us can rely on the next time we discover, to our “shock,” that racism still exists—yes, even today.
Among those who greeted me with the calmest aura—it’s better expressed in Creole as “la plus poze”—were the elders. Community organization leaders from the neighborhood who have been there for several decades, and in some cases, are even its co-founders. Those who have seen generations of young people mistreated by the police come and go. On the faces of many of the elders on Tuesday, I saw faint, sphinx-like smiles flit across their faces.
On Wednesday, Viviane Namasté, a professor at Concordia who has studied the history of the Haitian community in Montreal, suggested that I read a brief submitted by the Maison d’Haïti to the Inquiry Committee on Relations Between Police Forces and Visible and Ethnic Minorities. This public inquiry, also known as the “Bellemare Commission,” was led by the Human Rights Commission at a time when Quebec had just “rediscovered” racism within the police force. The year was… 1988.
I realize, from the passive-aggressive tone of certain passages (and that’s a compliment), that our elders were already saying the same things back in 1988. “It is an undeniable fact that ethnic minorities face racism in Montreal. The Haitian community has paid more than its fair share. It is striking to note that, in our previous reports, relations with the police had taken up a great deal of space. Today, nothing seems to have changed.”
The report places particular emphasis on improving internal police procedures and training officers in an “intercultural” context. The goal is for the police force to become more diverse, to raise awareness, and to build closer ties with communities. In 1988, we essentially adopted the same approach that Fady Dagher has been presenting as innovative since his appointment as chief of the SPVM. In 1995, the oversight committee tasked with following up on the Bellemare report stated that, with regard to police training, “it must be acknowledged that much remains to be done to meaningfully integrate the intercultural dimension.”
Among the 1988 commissioners, I recognize the name Maryse Alcindor, who had been appointed in 2016 by the Couillard government to lead the advisory committee tasked with assessing how to establish a potential commission on systemic racism. As one of the people behind that request, I also served on the committee. When the government kept us running in circles (before abandoning the effort), Maryse Alcindor was more laid-back than I was—I hadn’t been through that same scenario too many times before.
Myrlande Pierre, who is now vice-president of the Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights and who was already trying to explain racism to the Committee on Intercultural Relations in the early 2000s, was also more laid-back than I was. Will Prosper, co-founder of Montréal-Nord Républik and Hoodstock, a veteran of the “shock” experienced following Fredy Villanueva’s death, was just as calm. In 2026, as Fady Dagher is surprised to discover so much racism and I’m asked to explain that systemic racism exists in order to advance the cause, I do so with serenity as well.
So, let’s get started. Let’s explain once again that beyond what a police chief says, we must also examine what he does.
What he’s doing is waiting until 10:30 p.m. on a Friday night in June—the very day the National Assembly adjourned for the summer—to hold a press conference on racism within the SPVM—even though the investigation had been underway since March. The timing undermines the robustness of democratic debate and helps him maintain control.
What he’s also doing is trying to convince us that it’s humanly possible to be both judge and jury—and thus to resolve this “internally.” And that a police chief can simultaneously defend his organization’s reputation and shed light on its darkest aspects, without failing in either of these missions—or both.
What he is doing is to reject the recommendation of the 2023 expert report on racial profiling by the SPVM, which calls for a moratorium on police stops—the main “driver” of racial profiling—rather than insisting on the proverbial “better training” or “internal police organization” that would supposedly change everything—an approach that has systematically failed since at least 1988.
What I—and many people who know a thing or two about this—would like to see is a public inquiry into systemic racism within the police force, a moratorium on stop-and-frisk, and a thorough review of municipal bylaw—all to eliminate the other “loopholes” that police officers could fall back on to continue unduly harassing citizens in our communities.
We’ll see if we prefer the “solutions” that aren’t really solutions—and that have never worked—but that give the impression of having “done something” after a “shockwave.” If that’s the case, in a few years, Quebec will once again be “surprised” that racism persists within police forces and that citizens’ human rights are being violated.
And then, we’ll be back to square one. Poze.
Posted July 16, 2026