THE CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION TO RULE RACE-BASED SUSPECT DESCRIPTION CASE “FRIVOLOUS”

Montreal, October 10, 2012 --- The Canadian Human Rights Commission will soon be called upon to rule whether the complaint filed a Laval, Quebec Black bank customer who was mistaken by a teller for a Black bank robber, despite bearing little physical resemblance to the later and who was then arrested by the police in broad daylight, is indeed “frivolous.”

The case, which will constitute a major test of the Commission's ability to handle racism cases, involves a particular practice known as race-based suspect description whereby many Black males have been subjected to violent and life-threatening arrests due to mistaken identity, vague suspect descriptions in which race or skin color becomes the principal descriptor, and racial bias. In the United States, it is considered to be “the second generation of racial profiling” whereas in Canada, the law is still developing on the issue.

The Commission presently has no policy guidelines on race-based suspect description.

More to come.