For the 1st time in years, Montreal police back in regulation pants

After almost three years of sporting colourful, camouflage pants, Montreal police officers will once again be wearing their regulation uniforms. At least, for a few days.

The police union says as a way to reach out to the city after positive contract negotiations, its officers will temporarily ditch the pants, which they have been wearing as a pressure tactic, until Friday night.

The directive affects about 4,600 officers, who have been wearing the camouflage pants and other unique-looking bottoms since 2014, when Philippe Couillard's Liberal government introduced municipal pension reform.

The Montreal police have been without a contract since 2015 and are in the midst of an intensive round of bargaining.

In a statement, Mayor Denis Coderre said his administration was "happy about this gesture of openness" from the union, but that there is much more work to do before the two sides reach an agreement.

Pressure tactic will resume Friday: union

The union says the pressure tactic will resume Friday night at 11 p.m. unless otherwise stated.

In April, Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux tabled a bill aimed at to forcing officers to shelve their camouflage pants.

Officers who refused to comply with the the law would have faced fines ranging from $500 to $3,000 per day, but the Liberals were unable to pass the bill before the legislative session wrapped up this spring.

This isn't the first time some officers have gone back to their normal uniform temporarily — they did so for the 2014 funeral for NHL legend Jean Béliveau and the 2016 funeral for René Angelil.

However, they were roundly criticized for wearing their camouflage​ pants to the 2015 funeral for former Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau.

Montreal firefighters recently voted in favour of an agreement in principle that would end their labour dispute with the city.

It will be submitted to Montreal's executive committee Wednesday.