SQ top brass denies any knowledge of wrongdoing in Val-d'Or before 2015 crisis

The person who commanded the Quebec provincial police in 2015 said he had no clue there were any problems of police misconduct at the Val-d'Or detachment, even in the months leading up to a wave of public allegations made by Indigenous women in the region.

On Friday, Martin Prud'homme testified at the provincial inquiry into government treatment of Indigenous citizens which was put in place in response to what is being called the "Val-d'Or crisis."

Prud'homme, who is on leave from his job as the head of the SQ while he serves as interim director of the Montreal police service, said it was only in May 2015 that he got wind of allegations of police mistreatment of Indigenous women in the town of 33,000.

At that time, a team of journalists with Radio-Canada's Enquête program was interviewing alleged victims in Val-d'Or, 600 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

In Enquête's report, broadcast in October 2015, women alleged they were taken on "starlight tours" — driven out of town by police and left to walk back — and subjected to other types of harassment and discrimination by police officers.

"Until May 2015, I didn't have any information or details that led me to think there was a major problem in Val-d'Or," Prud'homme testified.

Jean-Pierre Pelletier, an SQ inspector posted in Val-d'Or, said he, too, only found out about the allegations when he received an e-mail from the head of the local Native Friendship Centre, Édith Cloutier.

Pelletier had had numerous meetings with Cloutier and local band councils in the months before he received that email.

"I had no indication there was a crisis," Pelletier told the commission.

Police informed in 2013: Jean Vicaire 

Friday's testimony contradicts that of Jean Vicaire, a police officer who worked with the SQ in Val-d'Or in 2013.

Vicaire testified in August that he had informed his superior of allegations of misconduct that had been reported to him by a local politician.

Now chief of the Lac-Simon First Nation police service, Vicaire said ​he told his supervisor at the time and was shocked when that manager said he was already aware of the allegations, naming a specific officer.

Vicaire also testified that his fellow SQ officers had told him of intoxicated Indigenous people being taken on "starlight tours."

Commission lawyer Paul Crépeau asked Prud'homme if this was a "phenomenon that is well-known within the SQ?"

Prud'homme responded that he had never heard of such a practice before.

"The first time I heard of it was during the investigation phase," he responded.

Crépeau asked several times how the chain of command at the SQ works. He asked why Prud'homme did not know officers had been given the order to crack down on homeless people in downtown Val-d'Or in 2014, which led to the incarceration of several Indigenous people during that time.

Disciplinary actions

Prud'homme said he found out in June 2015 that eight officers from Val-d'Or were named in the initial allegations.

He said it's only after seeing the Radio-Canada report the following Oct. 22 that those eight officers were put on administrative leave, and the investigation was handed over to the Montreal police service.

Quebec's Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions later ruled the complaints would not stand up in court and would not lead to any criminal charges.

Prud'homme said Friday that one month after the Crown's decision was made public, seven of the officers were also cleared of any wrongdoing by the SQ's ethics commissioner.

He said the investigation of the allegation against one officer is still pending.

"It's been three years now. How come this isn't finished, while the others were all closed within one month?" Crépeau asked.

"I have no idea," Prud'homme responded.

New approach to policing

Prud'homme said since the crisis, the SQ has changed its approach to a community-based policing model in Val-d'Or. He said he hopes Indigenous officers will eventually make up 50 per cent of the squad.

Val-d'Or's new chief inspector, Ginette Séguin, said she has met leaders in 41 of the 55 Indigenous communities in the region and regularly consults with band councils about best practices.

"My expectation from my police officers is for them to go toward people and ask them, 'How can we move forward?'"  

Jacques Viens, the retired judge who is presiding over the commission, said he recognized the SQ's efforts to move forward and hopes these kinds of conversations are also happening in other regions of Quebec.

"It's a lot easier to break a bond of trust than it is to build it back up," he said.