Supreme Court weighs road safety against racial profiling in ‘driving while Black’ case

2026/01/20 Leave a comment

To watch:

…Now, in a two-day hearing starting Monday, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear this landmark equality and police powers case – and revisit a long-ago precedent.

Quebec and several provinces, alongside lawyers for the federal government, will try to convince judges of the Supreme Court to overturn the rulings of the lower courts and reaffirm precedent. 

Governments insist it is a matter of essential road safety.

Mr. Luamba and an array of groups want the top court to strike down precedent and recognize that giving police such powers enables racism. They are calling on the Supreme Court to ban police from random stops of drivers throughout Canada.

“There isn’t anything random about these suspicion-less stops,” said Harini Sivalingam, director of the equality program of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which, with Mr. Luamba and the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, is a respondent at the Supreme Court.

“We’re not saying all police officers are biased,” said Ms. Sivalingam. “But there’s a systemic bias – and it’s well-documented.” 

In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled – in a 5-4 decision – that cops were allowed to randomly stop drivers, declaring “statistics relating to the carnage on the highways substantiate a pressing and substantial concern.”…

Source: Supreme Court weighs road safety against racial profiling in ‘driving while Black’ case

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Financialized landlords disproportionately apply to evict in Black neighbourhoods, study finds

2026/01/19 2 Comments

Good data-based study:

Tenants of financialized landlords in high-income, majority-Black Toronto neighbourhoods faced 33 eviction applications per 100 households from 2016 to 2019 — a rate five times higher than the city average for that landlords group of 5.6 per 100 households, a new study has found. 

“Financialized landlords” in the study refers to asset managers, real estate investment trusts, family conglomerates and “financialized property managers” focused on maximizing the value of portfolio assets for investors. 

The report conducted by researchers at Toronto Metropolitan University, funded in part by the Canadian government and published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, draws from more than 100,000 formal eviction filings for purpose-built rental apartments in Toronto from 2016 through 2021.

It found renters in Black-majority neighbourhoods experience “disproportionately high rates of housing instability and eviction filings by financialized landlords” and argues “profit-driven motives systematically undermine Black lives and spaces.”

From 2016 to 2019, eviction rates in Black-majority areas, “regardless of income level, were significantly higher than in other racial/ethnocultural groups, with few exceptions.”

The eviction-application rate in high-income, majority-Black neighbourhoods was more than double the rate of 14 per cent in low-income, majority-Black neighbourhoods from 2016 to 2019, the report found.

The study categorized neighbourhoods as “low-income” or “high-income” depending on whether the areas had median renter household after-tax incomes above or below the Toronto renter median for the census year ($42,000 for 2016 and $57,600 for 2021).

Lead researcher Nemoy Lewis, an assistant professor at TMU’s School of Urban and Regional Planning, said this finding challenges common assumptions about evictions….

Source: Financialized landlords disproportionately apply to evict in Black neighbourhoods, study finds

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ICYMI – Bouchard: Quand l’espoir vient des citoyens

2026/01/19 Leave a comment

Always worth reading:

« En haut, en haut ! C’est un grand concept sociologique sophistiqué, ça, en haut ! », s’exclame-t-il d’un ton faussement bourru. Me sentant désarçonné au bout du fil, il éclate d’un grand rire.

Le ton est donné : interviewer Gérard Bouchard sera tout sauf ennuyant. Ce monument de l’histoire et de la sociologie a codirigé la fameuse commission Bouchard-Taylor sur les accommodements raisonnables, a enseigné à Harvard, a écrit de nombreux ouvrages. Et à 81 ans, le sociologue chéri des Québécois est vif, drôle, versant autant dans l’autodérision que dans les critiques acerbes.

Des critiques qu’il dirige beaucoup vers le gouvernement du Québec actuellement. C’est là, « en haut », qu’il déplore les plus grandes dérives. Mon intention n’était pas nécessairement d’amener mon interlocuteur dans l’arène politique, mais il y a sauté lui-même à pieds joints.

Lorsque je lui demande ce qu’il souhaite collectivement aux Québécois pour 2026, sa réponse est immédiate.

« Je souhaiterais que tout le débat sur l’identitaire perde enfin de l’actualité. L’identitaire est un sac vide. Cette affaire-là ne va nulle part. C’est un débat qui divise, mais qui n’ouvre pas sur grand-chose. »

— Gérard Bouchard

Il enchaîne en dénonçant la désinvolture avec laquelle, selon lui, le gouvernement Legault écarte les droits fondamentaux pour imposer sa vision de la laïcité.

« Ça relève d’un sentiment antireligieux, je ne vois pas autre chose, dit-il. L’idée qu’une société, pour être laïque, doit repousser le religieux dans ses derniers retranchements pour qu’il ne soit finalement plus visible du tout… Ce n’est pas un idéal pour une société, ça ! Ou alors, si c’est un idéal, ça en est un qui repose essentiellement sur la violation d’un droit fondamental. »

« On vit encore sur cette espèce de revanche que l’on prend contre les abus du clergé que notre société a subis jusqu’au milieu du XXe siècle, analyse-t-il. On avait de sacrées bonnes raisons de le faire, on a beaucoup souffert. Mais là, il faudrait en finir avec ça. On ne va quand même pas vivre sur ce ressentiment de génération en génération ! »

Je lui fais remarquer que bien des Québécois sont d’accord avec un renforcement de la laïcité au nom de l’égalité entre les hommes et les femmes.

« On en est venu à percevoir que les deux sont incompatibles, déplore-t-il. Que pour défendre les droits des femmes, il faut faire reculer le religieux ! »

Le sociologue estime que la loi 21 sur l’interdiction du port de signes religieux par les enseignants ainsi que les projets de loi visant à élargir cette loi aux éducatrices de garderie, notamment, sont dangereux pour notre vivre-ensemble.

« Le dommage que ce gouvernement va causer chez les musulmans, chez les jeunes musulmanes… Ces gens-là ne sont quand même pas des monstres ! Ce sont simplement des croyants. »

S’il dénonce les dérives « en haut », Gérard Bouchard reprend espoir en regardant « en bas », c’est-à-dire du côté des citoyens. C’est là qu’il observe des exemples du modèle d’intégration qu’il prône depuis longtemps : l’interculturalisme.

Brève parenthèse théorique. Là où l’assimilation cherche à effacer les différences et où le multiculturalisme laisse se développer des cultures séparées et souvent isolées, l’interculturalisme prône l’intégration à une culture et une langue communes, mais avec un respect de la différence et des droits de chacun. Un modèle qui implique aussi des échanges et une curiosité envers l’autre.

« Il y a un paquet d’institutions qui l’ont appliqué à leur niveau, que ce soit dans les écoles primaires ou secondaires », observe Gérard Bouchard. …

Source: Quand l’espoir vient des citoyens

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Lederman: The fallout from the Gaza War continues to be felt in the literary world

2026/01/17 2 Comments

Sad that this needs to be said:

…A plea – and I make this as someone whose own appearance at a book festival last year attracted letters of protest: We must ensure literary spaces are inclusive and encourage intellectual debate and diverse voices. We must not seek to censor well-meaning, serious artists, but to invite them in and respectfully challenge opinions that rankle (although there should be no place for actual hate). To allow discussion about their books and beliefs. That is the value of a literary festival, a literary prize, and books themselves.

Source: The fallout from the Gaza War continues to be felt in the literary world

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Immigrants more likely to cite human rights, diversity as ‘Canadian values’: survey

2026/01/17 2 Comments

Of note:

Immigrants are more likely than those born in Canada to identify things like respect for human rights and gender equality as “shared Canadian values,” say survey results in briefing notes prepared for Immigration Minister Lena Diab.

The survey results — part of a package assembled for the minister when she took over the portfolio last May — were obtained by The Canadian Press through an access to information request.

The Statistics Canada survey asked respondents whether they saw human rights, respect for the law, gender equality, linguistic duality, ethic and cultural diversity and respect for Indigenous culture as shared “Canadian values.”

In each case, the percentage of immigrants surveyed who said they saw those values as distinctly Canadian was higher than the percentage of people born in Canada who said the same.

The data was pulled from Statistics Canada’s December 2022 general survey on social identity. The data was collected between August 2020 and February 2021, with a sample of more than 34,000 people that included almost 14,000 landed immigrants.

The survey suggests 67 per cent of immigrants who were aged 13 or older when they came to Canada see respect for the law as a shared Canadian value, while just 40 per cent of respondents born here agreed.

The responses from people who came to Canada aged 12 and younger were more in line with those of people born here.

Lori Wilkinson, Canada Research Chair in migration at the University of Manitoba, said she thinks that statistic is the result of a younger cohort of immigrants growing up in Canada.

“The longer (immigrants) stay here, the more they act Canadian. And I suspect that that’s an issue with attitudes as well,” she said.

“The more you’re here, you pick up the norms and values of the Canadians that you live around. So it’s not surprising they become more like Canadians.”

The survey suggests about 58 per cent of immigrants are satisfied with their lives, while just 44 per cent of Canadian-born respondents said the same.

The survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when many people were stuck at home due to public health measures and more likely to be out of work.

Daniel Bernhard, CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, said this result matches research his organization has conducted. He said immigrants tend to be more focused on their potential for future prosperity after making personal sacrifices to come to Canada.

“There is recognition there that it is difficult to move to a new country, that the economic conditions here, you know, can be difficult for everybody. But as long as they feel that they’re making progress, they’ll be willing to stay,” he said.

Bernhard said his institute has also found immigrant attitudes tend to converge with those of Canadian-born citizens the longer they’re in Canada.

Wilkinson said she expects satisfaction rates across the entire population have declined in recent years due to the elevated cost of living.

“I think people in general, whether you’re immigrant or not, are going to be more angry the longer that affordability is not addressed, the longer homelessness and (housing) precarity are not addressed,” she said….

Source: Immigrants more likely to cite human rights, diversity as ‘Canadian values’: survey

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Nicolas | Maintenant… l’avenir du Québec

2026/01/16 Leave a comment

Lot’s of various commentary, with this one focussing on the polarization on identity issues Legault engendered:

…“Des ministres comme Jean-François Roberge, Simon-Jolin Barrette et Bernard Drainville semblent particulièrement à l’aise avec l’aspect plus « identitaire » de la coalition. Je soupçonne fortement des ministres comme Mathieu Lacombe, Eric Girard ou Sonia LeBel de nourrir ailleurs leur passion pour la chose publique. Je ne sais pas si Kateri Champagne Jourdain est particulièrement à l’aise avec le traitement réservé aux Premiers Peuples dans le projet de Constitution québécoise. Je mettrais ma main au feu que le discours de certains collègues sur l’immigration ou sur le filet social a travaillé la solidarité ministérielle d’un Lionel Carmant, bien avant que le débat sur la rémunération des médecins ne soit lancé.

Le premier ministre a démissionné en reconnaissant que les Québécois veulent du changement. Sa succession doit être libre de prendre ses distances par rapport à certaines de ses idées, méthodes, discours ou approches. La course au leadership qui s’organise devra certainement être libre d’en débattre.

“Si la CAQ veut se donner une chance de se renouveler, la première étape, c’est de ne pas lier les mains de sa succession à un agenda législatif qui non seulement polarise inutilement et crée de potentiels dommages à notre état de droit, mais n’aura pas réussi à faire ce pour quoi il a été pensé : sauver François Legault et son parti. Il faut proroger le Parlement durant la course, se donner au moins l’option de repartir sur du neuf.”

Source: Chronique | Maintenant… l’avenir du Québec

“Ministers like Jean-François Roberge, Simon-Jolin Barrette and Bernard Drainville seem particularly comfortable with the more “identity” aspect of the coalition. I strongly suspect ministers like Mathieu Lacombe, Eric Girard or Sonia LeBel of nurturing their passion for public affairs elsewhere. I don’t know if Kateri Champagne Jourdain is particularly comfortable with the treatment reserved for the First Peoples in the Quebec Constitution project. I would put my hand on the fire that the speech of some colleagues on immigration or the social net worked the ministerial solidarity of a Lionel Carmant, long before the debate on the remuneration of doctors was launched.

The Prime Minister resigned, acknowledging that Quebecers want change. His succession must be free to distance himself from some of his ideas, methods, speeches or approaches. The leadership race that is being organized will certainly have to be free to debate it.

“If the CAQ wants to give itself a chance to renew itself, the first step is not to bind the hands of its succession to a legislative agenda that not only polarizes unnecessarily and creates potential damage to our rule of law, but will not have succeeded in doing what it was designed for: saving François Legault and his party. We must extend the Parliament during the race, at least give ourselves the option to start again.”

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Parkin – Freedom vs. equality: Quebec and the rest of Canada

2026/01/16 Leave a comment

More interesting findings:

…Do these differences among provinces and regions matter to our politics? On the one hand, they should not be exaggerated (and we should always resist the urge to stereotype): opinions in every region are fairly divided, with at least two in five in every region favouring each of the two options. Appeals to either freedom or to equality will win support among a significant number of voters, no matter where you are in the country. On the other hand, promises to make Canada the freest country in the world, and attacks on wokeism or policies to advance diversity, equity and inclusion will appeal more in some regions than others – specifically, they will appeal to more voters in the Prairies than in Quebec, and particularly more to men in the Prairies than to women in Quebec. This is as it should be: the point of democratic politics is to offer people choices. But these public opinion data do contribute something to our efforts to understand the way recent elections have played out.

Source: Freedom vs. equality: Quebec and the rest of Canada

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StatsCan: Overrepresentation of Indigenous and Black adults in provincial and federal custody

2026/01/15 Leave a comment

Usual sound data analysis from StatsCan, higher gaps than I expected:

In 2023/2024, Indigenous adults were incarcerated at a rate 10 times higher than non-Indigenous adults in the six provinces with available data (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia), according to a new measure called the overrepresentation index. Over the five-year period studied (2019/2020 to 2023/2024), overrepresentation of Indigenous adults in custody increased each year. In 2023/2024, the Black population was incarcerated at a rate three times that of the white population in the four provinces where disaggregated data on racialized groups are available (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia).

The overrepresentation of Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Métis) and Black adults under correctional supervision in Canada is a significant and persistent concern. Designed to improve the measuring of overrepresentation and to monitor progress more effectively over time, this Daily release presents a detailed analysis of previously released indicators. For the first time, these measures combine correctional data from the federal, provincial and territorial levels to provide data on the entire correctional system for reporting provinces and territories. These measures also allow for further disaggregation of the non-Indigenous population into white and racialized group populations, offering a more comprehensive view of correctional involvement among Indigenous and Black populations in Canada. 

To reflect the distinct histories, structural factors and lived experiences of Indigenous and Black populations in Canada, the analysis is presented in two parts. The reasons overrepresentation exists in the Canadian justice system are complex and long-standing. They are discussed further in this release in the section on overrepresentation of Indigenous people and in the section on overrepresentation of Black persons.

Overrepresentation of Indigenous adults in custody

The overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canada’s correctional systems is a long-standing and deeply rooted issue. For over three decades, this issue has been highlighted by commissions, rulings from the Supreme Court of Canada and various other official inquiries.

The causes of overrepresentation are complex and interconnected, though indisputably linked to colonialism, displacement, socioeconomic marginalization, intergenerational trauma and systemic discrimination. A key legal milestone was the 1999 Supreme Court case R v. Gladue, which emphasized that lower courts should carefully consider an Indigenous offender’s background during sentencing. This was reaffirmed and expanded in R v. Ipeelee (2012).

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada issued Call to Action 30, urging all levels of government to commit to eliminating the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in custody within a decade. The Call also emphasized the importance of ongoing monitoring through detailed annual reporting….

Overrepresentation of Black adults in custody

In Canada, the Black population faces social and economic challenges linked to the historic and ongoing harms caused by colonial laws, policies and practices, including racial segregation and discriminatory immigration policies. These challenges, compounded by anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination, have resulted in the overrepresentation of Black persons in Canada’s correctional system. As a result of changes in reporting, Statistics Canada is now able to report on the overrepresentation of Black persons in the correctional system for the following jurisdictions: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

Black persons incarcerated at a rate three times their proportion of the population

In 2023/2024, Black persons in custody from the four reporting provinces accounted for 12.8% of the custodial population on an average day, while they made up 3.3% of the general adult population. 

The incarceration rate of Black persons in 2023/2024 was 32 adults per 10,000 population, compared with 8 adults per 10,000 population for the white population. The rate was highest among Black men (62 adults per 10,000 population) and lowest among Black women (2 adults per 10,000 population). By comparison, rates were lower among white men (15 adults per 10,000 population) and white women (1 adult per 10,000 population).

Overall, 0.8% of the adult Black population was incarcerated at some point during the 2023/2024 reference year, compared with 0.2% of the white population….

Source: Overrepresentation of Indigenous and Black adults in provincial and federal custody

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MacDougall | Canada does not need to lie down and accept Elon Musk’s giant mess

2026/01/15 Leave a comment

Good commentary:

…Welcome to the classic Big Tech manoeuvre: make (or enable) a giant mess, and then bark at others to clean it up. But that’s a poor response to minor offences and an egregious one to the generation and distribution of CSAM [child sexual abuse material]. Canadian legislators and regulators shouldn’t accept it.

But how do we stop them from making a mess? And can we do it short of a controversial “ban”?

To begin, we must understand that legislators and regulators have spent most of Big Tech’s existence trying to regulate their content outputs instead of taking a hard look at the inputs, imperatives and incentives driving these services. If these services are spraying crap like CSAM around social media platforms, the answer must be to prevent the platforms from spraying the crap, not trying to clean up all the crap after it has been sprayed on unsuspecting users. This is a business model problem, and we must focus on the model, not what it produces. 

As it stands, the major social media platforms and AI services are free to use (Musk only tucked some of Grok’s features behind a paywall after it was caught facilitating CSAM, though users can still access the features in other ways). And when a platform is “free” to use, it must make its money elsewhere: through advertising. In other words, these platforms exist to monetize our attention, not to provide free speech. And when attention is the key revenue metric, addiction becomes the business model, because more time on screen equals more money. That’s how you end up with a world where children now spend an average of five hours on social media every day, with adults struggling to control their usage, too. 

Given these figures, it’s no wonder the platforms call us their “users” not their customers. If we were customers, we would exchange some money for these services at the point of sale, not be monetized after the fact. If we were customers, we could demand changes to the service we are provided, not simply be forced to accept whatever content the platforms find delivers better “engagement” (hint: it’s not journalism). If we paid, the platforms would be forced to compete on utility, not addictiveness.

In this new world of competition, nobody but pedophiles would be asking X and Grok for CSAM. So let’s build this world instead of accepting the business models people like Musk are now forcing on us. And if the platforms don’t want to have that conversation, we should look good and hard at a ban, but of their business models, not their outputs. There is no rule saying we must accept a business model that generates tremendous harms while forcing the public to bear the cost of those harms.

Source: Opinion | Canada does not need to lie down and accept Elon Musk’s giant mess

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Horak: The protests in Iran echo past uprisings. But this time, they feel different, Regg Cohn, Ebadi and Akhavan

2026/01/14 Leave a comment

Some of the better analyses of the situation in Iran, starting with former Canadian diplomat Dennis Horak:

…Notwithstanding the challenges the regime faces, it would be foolish to underestimate the repressive abilities of the Iranian security apparatus to protect the Islamic Republic. The forces stacked up against the protesters are formidable; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in particular, is brutal and experienced, and its leadership has strong vested interests in maintaining the status quo, including vast economic holdings. They, like the protesters, have something to fight for, and they have the weapons. The regime will not be going quietly. 

The regime is also bolstered by the fact that the exiled opposition movement continues to be fractious, and thus offers little hope as a viable alternative. While the son of the deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi, has gained more visibility this time around, he carries a difficult legacy that will make it hard to rally around him, notwithstanding the effectiveness of his communications team. 

It is difficult to predict how this will all turn out. Most revolutions fail, until they don’t. But it is likely that some measure of change is coming this time, even if the current revolt is put down. It is hard to see how the status quo in Iran is sustainable. It will take more than vague promises of economic reform of the sort uttered by President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday to placate current or future protesters. Fundamental reform will be required, beginning with policy shifts on the nuclear front and an end to regional meddling to allow for the lifting of crippling sanctions and draw the country back from the radical, revolutionary fringe. 

To achieve this, there will need to be profound changes in how the regime functions, if there is not to be regime change. The question is: can Iran have the former without the latter? 

Dennis Horak was Canada’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Yemen from 2015 to 2018 and chargé d’affaires in Iran from 2009 to 2012.

Source: The protests in Iran echo past uprisings. But this time, they feel different

Regg Cohn | As protests grow, Iran finds itself more isolated than ever

…And so revolution is in the air again, just as it was nearly five decades ago in the twilight of the shah’s despotic rule. Iran’s tortured history teaches cruel lessons of false hope and false starts.

In 1979, secular leftists and religious rightists joined forces to topple the shah of the day, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The clerics, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, hijacked the revolution and declared an Islamic Republic.

They were usurpers, not liberators.

Pahlavi, who went into exile in 1979, was the son of an army officer who had crowned himself shah in 1925. Pahlavi fled the country in 1953 in a dispute with the democratically elected parliament — only to be restored to power in a CIA-backed coup days later.

Now, all these years later, his son — declared crown prince at age seven — is claiming the mantle of leadership from exile.

As Iranians try one more time to break free of the Islamic Revolution, nearly half a century after it supposedly liberated them, the last thing they need is to be tethered to a pretender to the throne. The people of Iran will chart their own path, cheered on by supporters in the diaspora but without taking orders from them — lest another revolution face another hijacking.

Iranians are fighting for liberation, not usurpation.

Source: Opinion | As protests grow, Iran finds itself more isolated than ever

As Iran cracks down on protesters again, the world cannot be silent

…The continuing heroism of the Iranian people is a reminder of the tremendous potential for the future of a rich civilization that produced the first human-rights declaration 2,500 years ago in the cuneiform text of clay cylinder of Cyrus the Great, which is now housed in the British Museum. The scenes unfolding in Iran today demonstrate that 50 years of totalitarianism has not extinguished this powerful legacy, expressed in the ancient belief that in the end, light will triumph over darkness. Now, the world community must support this awakening and stand in solidarity with those who remind us of the astonishing resilience of the human spirit.

Shirin Ebadi is the founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Iran and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Payam Akhavan is the Human Rights Chair at the University of Toronto’s Massey College, a founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre, and a former UN prosecutor at The Hague.

Source: As Iran cracks down on protesters again, the world cannot be silent

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