Tensions between Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand and Public Security Minister François Bonnardel over the rise in gun violence have eased. Mayor Marchand now says reinforcements from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) are welcome.
On Monday, the mayor’s office confirmed that it “welcomed” Minister Bonnardel’s offer, information first released by The Sun.
“After analysis and discussions between our teams, I asked that we quickly explore the form that the offer of collaboration that you sent me could take, in concrete terms,” he indicated in a letter sent to Minister Bonnardel on Monday, a copy of which was sent to the media.
In another letter sent to the mayor on Friday, the minister had proposed that the Sûreté du Québec provide “the necessary assistance” to the Service de police de la ville de Québec (SPVQ). These reinforcements would take the form of “staff specialized in organized crime or firearms control”, “intelligence specialists” or “investigators”.
In the previous days, the mayor of Quebec City had instead urged Minister Bonnardel to increase funding for the SPVQ so that it could deal with the growth in armed violence in its territory and surrounding areas. The minister refused, claiming that these problems were more the responsibility of the SQ.
In recent months, clashes between different violent groups for control of the drug trade have led to a series of incidents in the capital and eastern Quebec. Last week, the body of a teenager from Montreal was discovered in the rural municipality of Frampton, in Beauce, in connection with this conflict.
Concern for the autonomy of the SPVQ
In his letter to the Minister of Public Security, Mayor Marchand also warns that the SQ’s intervention must not undermine the independence of its police force. “This collaboration must obviously respect the autonomy of the SPVQ.”
Mr. Marchand, who is currently on a two-week mission in Europe, is also taking the opportunity to once again call for more funding for his police services. “The temporary support that the Sûreté is proposing today to provide to the Quebec City Police Department will eventually have to be supplemented by additional financial resources on a more permanent basis,” his letter states.
The mayor finally defends himself from not funding the SPVQ sufficiently. “The City of Quebec fully assumes its responsibilities in terms of public safety, as evidenced by the major investments that have been made in recent years in order to make police operations even more effective. Let us think in particular of the new police station, a major investment of $112 million, the costs of which were entirely assumed by the City.”