The Sûreté du Québec has transferred to administrative tasks its three police officers who recently participated in a meeting of conspirators to denounce the health measures related to COVID-19.
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This measure was decreed pending the results of an internal investigation by the professional standards division of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), our Bureau of Investigation learned on Thursday.
The three agents, Marie-Claude Nadeau, Ion Patras and Stéphane Lamarre, took part in the last few weeks in an event organized by a pressure group called Policemen for Freedom Quebec.
In images posted online on December 30, we see two of them claim to have discomfort in enforcing the health decrees in force in the province.
“We cannot blindly participate in the execution of a warrant that violates the laws of our country,” Agent Patras can be seen mentioning on stage.
“I am experiencing a conflict of loyalty because I have to apply new recommendations decided by decree and not voted on by all the elected members of the National Assembly who are against my values because they are intended to be discriminatory”, proclaims in turn Marie-Claude Nadeau.
The third policeman, Stéphane Lamarre, did not speak at the event, but he appears on a promotional video for the group.
Disapproval
Their statements aroused almost unanimous disapproval from the political and police class.
Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault said she was “very concerned” about the situation following our revelations on Wednesday.
“That police officers personally disagree with measures is one thing. That they manifest it publicly by saying that they will not apply our laws, it is not acceptable”, she underlined in writing.
The SQ is trying to find out if its police officers have violated their code of discipline and health rules.