Beyond the recommendations she made in her report on the deaths of police officer Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard, coroner Géhane Kamel called on the various parties to go beyond “sacrosanct confidentiality” and start talking to each other to avoid further tragedies.
“Sit down together and make sure everyone knows everyone’s role,” the coroner said at a press conference presenting the findings of her report released the day before.
“Tomorrow morning, even if the 38 recommendations were implemented, if everyone does not know their role, if people do not work in consultation and collaboration, by stopping above all – please – saying “it’s not in my backyard, it’s in the healthcare department’s backyard” or “it’s not in the police’s backyard, it’s in this guy’s backyard”, [ça ne va pas fonctionner]”People will have to learn to talk to each other and work together,” the coroner said vigorously.
“I understand that there is sacrosanct confidentiality, but we will have to find mechanisms quickly to be able to talk to each other, before all this [ses 38 recommandations] be put in place.”
The Dr Marc Jalbert, who assisted the coroner in her work, also believes that we need to “find a space” for doctors to transmit information that is essential to the work of police officers. “In physical health, we don’t ask ourselves so many questions if we sense a danger – a physical problem, someone who is in danger at home because they are losing their autonomy or are in difficulty – we have fewer of these barriers. In mental health, the taboo is greater.”
As unfortunate as they are, the deaths of Officer Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard must serve as leverage to change things and prevent other tragedies, the coroner believes. “We sense a political will to ensure that these situations do not happen again. Now, am I living in my own unicorn world? I hope not.”
She is pleased to see “that things are being put in place,” such as the work of a committee on judicial review and Bill 66, which she does not want to comment on for the moment. “I think we have to let the bill live. There are people who will be heard in committee, including the Coroner’s Office […]but it is certainly a step in the right direction.”
The SQ says it is already taking action
For its part, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) assures that it did not wait for the coroner’s report to make certain changes. “Already, following the sad events, the SQ had carried out the necessary reflections in order to identify concrete actions to implement quickly to secure the work of its police officers. Some of these actions make it possible to respond to the coroner’s recommendations,” stated Chief Inspector Patrice Cardinal, responsible for communications and international relations at the Sûreté du Québec, in a press conference following the coroner’s.
The SQ has therefore accelerated the deployment of the “Disturbed Mental State Response” training. “Considering that the number of mental health calls is increasing, we had to increase our training deployment as quickly as possible. That was one of the first observations.” As of today, more than 60% of police officers have been trained, he assures.
The SQ has also reviewed and “modernized” its approach to requalification by grouping several training courses into one, “Maintaining skills in police intervention,” which is given over a period of three days.
“We are aware that in recent years, the reality of policing has changed significantly,” said Chief Inspector Cardinal. “Thus, taking into account the evolution of the social fabric and certain issues associated with it, our organization works continuously with our partners to modify and improve its working methods and the training of its members in order to ensure the safety of both its police officers and the public.”
But beyond the recommendations, has the SQ changed its approach to better communicate with the various organizations? Do the police call 811, as requested by the coroner? Chief Inspector Cardinal says he hopes that Bill 66 will be able to “promote” these exchanges and assures that he has increased the number of multidisciplinary teams on the territory. “These are the teams that we want to promote to allow day-to-day exchanges in the field,” he replies.