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The Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, needs to provide the population with explanations regarding the suspension of the Director General of the Sûreté du Québec, Mr. Martin Prud’homme. Since March 6, 2019, he has been at home asking himself what he has been accused of and suddenly yesterday during an interview the Minister announced that no criminal accusations will be made against him. A questionable way of doing things insists the Liberal Critic for Public Security, Ms. Marie-Claude Nichols.
While Quebec is on pause because of COVID-19, Minister Guilbault announced on the 98.5 FM sound waves that the file for criminal accusations was closed and that an ethical and deontological review of the man’s file is currently underway.
From the outset, Ms. Nichols finds it surprising that the Minister of Public Security was announcing a decision made by the Direction des poursuites criminelles et pénales (DPCP) when political and judicial powers are independent.
The MNA from Vaudreuil also wonders about the fact that an administrative inquiry led by emplois supérieurs seems to have begun. How could it be that this process wasn’t undertaken simultaneously in the last year?
The Liberal critic also believes that the timing chosen by Minister Guilbault to make the absence of criminal accusations against Mr. Prud’homme public is also questionable. A man’s reputation is at stake, the MNA questions whether the Minister taking advantage of an unprecedented crisis in Quebec to try to close the file.
Over the past few days, people have been raising their voices claiming Mr. Prud’homme’s reintegration within the Surété du Québec. His expertise could be a precious asset in this time of crisis. Ms. Guilbault needs to think about that possibility.
Yesterday, the Minister commented on the file in public, which has led me to ask for more details in this affair today. For a year, a man has been at his home without knowing what he is being accused of. No further clarity has been offered since March 6, 2019, and now that Quebec is experiencing an unprecedented crisis, Minister Guilbault has brought this file back into the news reel. The timing is strange. The Minister’s way of handling things undermines our police institutions which certainly do not need this type of dealing at the moment.
–Marie-Claude Nichols, MNA representing Vaudreuil and Liberal Critic for Public Security
