The Commission Speaks Out Against the Social Profiling of the Homeless in Montreal
In an opinion published on November 10, 2009, the Commission urges the city of Montreal to repeal two by-laws that target the homeless. It also calls on the Montreal police (Service de police de la Ville de Montréal) to change its institutional standards and policies that have a discriminatory impact on street people.
Providing examples and statistics, the Commission’s opinion concludes that the social profiling of Montréal’s homeless is discriminatory and contravenes the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. Moreover, in the view of the Commission, the excessive use of the courts to deal with the homeless is the result of targeted police practices aimed at removing them from the public space, rather than a neutral and impartial enforcement of the law.
The Commission makes 14 recommendations to different levels of government and to the Montréal police, and outlines detailed proposals for a policy on homelessness.
News Release : 
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Executive summary of the opinion of the Commission
Recommendations of the Commission
