A black West Island man says he is disappointed and offended that the Quebec Human Rights Commission has awarded him what he calls the "paltry" amount of $2000 in a case of racial profiling by Montreal police in 2011.
Marcus Gordon and his fiançée at the time were leaving the Metropolis in May 2011 after a tribute concert for murdered local hip-hop artist Bad News Brown. There were several police officers posted outside the venue when the couple crossed in the middle of the nearly deserted street at around midnight.
Gordon, now 33, said three police officers approached them and gave them tickets for jaywalking. Gordon then took a video showing jaywalkers who were not black and who didn't get ticketed at the time.
In a recent decision, the Human Rights Commission ruled that Gordon and his fiançée were victims of racial profiling and ordered the city of Montreal and the police officer who issued the ticket to pay them $2000 each.
Gordon said he reacted with disbelief and dismay that the decision took so long and the amount was so low. The Centre for Research Action on Racism, CRARR, which helped Gordon in the case, said the amount is vastly inferior to those awarded in past similar cases- as high as $10,000.
"It shows Black lives are cheap in Quebec," said Gordon, an independent videographer with his own company in Pierrefonds.
"It kind of sets a low of how valued one's civil rights could possibly be."
Gordon said this is not the first time he's been targetted by police in similar incidents, especially while driving, and that this ruling could discourage others from filing complaints.
CRARR said it's asking for a review of the decision and may go before the Human Rights Tribunal to contest it.
The commission said it could not comment on the case due to confidentiality reasons.
It said that each case is evaluated according to the circumstances and that damages are proposed by the complaints committee as it deems appropriate.