Ottawa, provinces ask Supreme Court to uphold law that allows random traffic stops

Lawyers representing the attorneys general of Canada and several provinces have asked the Supreme Court to affirm laws allowing police to make random, routine traffic stops.

Federal Justice Department lawyer Marc Ribeiro told Canada’s highest court that police need the discretionary power to stop motorists at random in order to combat impaired driving.

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The Supreme Court spent a second morning hearing arguments about whether it’s constitutional for police to make traffic stops without reasonable suspicion the driver has committed an offence.

The case involves Joseph-Christopher Luamba, a Montrealer of Haitian descent who said he was repeatedly stopped by police for no apparent reason when he was driving or riding in cars. None of the stops resulted in a ticket.

Quebec’s Superior Court declared the law on random traffic stops inoperative in 2022 on the grounds it led to racial profiling, and the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling in 2024.

Ribeiro and four provinces have sided with Quebec, arguing there are ways to fight racial profiling that don’t require removing the power of police to stop cars without reasonable suspicion a crime has been committed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 20, 2026.