Why is Montreal appealing a historic ruling on racial profiling by its police?

Last month, a Superior Court judge found the City of Montreal responsible for the "systemic" practice of racial profiling by its police officers.

While the city agreed it should compensate victims, it still wanted to appeal the decision.

Earlier this month, when the city announced its plan to appeal, CBC News spoke with Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor Gracia Kasoki Katahwa. She's also the executive committee member in charge of the fight against racism and systemic discrimination.

She said the city has no problem compensating victims of racial profiling, but it doesn't agree with the judge's ruling that a chunk of that money be distributed in the form of class payments.

That, she said, would lead to large amounts going to lawyers and a provincial fund for class-action lawsuits which, according to her, would be like giving money to a provincial government "that frankly doesn't recognize systemic racism."

"What we want is for the money to directly go to the victims," she said at the time.

But after CBC News obtained a copy of the city's notice of appeal, it was apparent there was much more to it than that. 

Montreal's legal team wrote a scathing 15-page account of the Superior Court ruling, describing it as being "stained with multiple errors" of law.

Here is a breakdown of the reasons behind this appeal and what it could mean for people who were racially profiled by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). 

To better understand why the city wants to appeal, it's important to revisit the initial judgment. It was somewhat complex and left major questions unanswered. Consider this: it's still not clear how much money Montreal would need to pay should the judgment stand.

The class-action lawsuit was filed by The Black Coalition of Quebec and Alexandre Lamontagne — a Black man who was racially profiled by Montreal police in 2017.

The lawsuit, which was approved in 2019, was initially pegged as being worth $171 million.

That number came from a mathematical equation: an estimated number of people who were racially profiled by Montreal police multiplied by 5,000. The legal team for the plaintiffs was seeking $5,000 for each victim.

They ultimately scored a partial victory.