The labour union representing Montreal’s police officers says it will challenge the firing of seven SPVM officers following allegations of racism, discrimination and misconduct.
The Montreal Police Brotherhood said it was contesting the “administrative dismissals” because they raise “fundamental legal questions.”
“This is a method entirely unprecedented in our history of labor relations; it has never been used before and has no basis in any existing framework. In our view, this approach is clearly non-compliant and could prove detrimental to you in the future,” president Yves Francoeur said in a statement sent to union members on Tuesday.
Francoeur’s statement comes one day after SPVM Chief Fady Dagher announced the firing of five officers from Station 39 and another two from Station 21.
Dagher called it an “exceptional measure” and a first in the force’s history. He said the force consulted with the city’s lawyers to revoke the officers’ accreditation and security clearance through a process he called an administrative dismissal.
“The legal framework governing the employment relationship cannot be unilaterally rewritten by the employer simply to suit what it deems convenient under certain circumstances,” Francoeur wrote in response. “Consequently, the union will uphold the rule of law and will take the appropriate steps to do so.”
Station 39 in Montreal North is where a 16-officer team disbanded over the summer following claims that officers cut locks of hair from racialized citizens to keep as “trophies.”
Station 21 in downtown Montreal is where media reports claimed an officer urinated on a homeless person. On Monday, Dagher said those claims “do not correspond to anything in our internal investigations.”
“We do have a case involving a police officer who committed a despicable act – an act of a similar nature, but not one directed at a human being,” Dagher told reporters. “Let me be very, very clear: the SPVM is not investigating this particular allegation.”
Six of the seven officers were previously suspended, with the file for officers at Station 39 having been sent to Quebec’s Crown prosecution office, the DPCP, to determine if criminal charges would be forthcoming.
The DPCP confirmed to CityNews “the SPVM has submitted an investigation file for review and authorization of charges, in connection with allegations of discriminatory and racist acts involving police officers from Neighbourhood Station 39.”
Francoeur says if the allegations are proven true, “they would be in profound violation of its values as well as the values held by the police officers of Montreal.
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