(Quebec) The Legault government is calling for public coroner’s inquests into the death of police officer Maureen Breau of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), stabbed to death on March 27, and the fire at Place d’Youville in Old Montreal, which killed seven people in mid-March.
The information, first relayed by Radio-Canada, was confirmed by The Press. Public Security Minister François Bonnardel will make the announcement later this afternoon, Tuesday, in Parliament.
Several groups had been demanding for a few days in Quebec to request such investigations. The Coroner’s Public Inquest “is a process by which facts and relevant information are presented to the Coroner in public hearings”. This type of inquest “is ordered by the Chief Coroner, on his own initiative or at the request of the Minister of Public Security. It may relate to one death or to several deaths occurring in similar circumstances.
Recall that Sergeant Maureen Breau died on March 27, stabbed while performing her duties in Louiseville, Mauricie. The suspect in this case, Isaac Brouillard Lessard, was shot during the operation. Since 2014, Mr. Brouillard Lessard has been the subject of five verdicts of not guilty on account of mental disorder in relation to assault with a weapon and death threats. He was followed by the Mental Disorders Review Commission, which judged in February 2022 that the man represented “a significant security risk”.