A bombshell report alleging the Montreal police department ousted two inspectors who were poised to go public on corruption within their force is “troubling” and needs to be investigated as thoroughly as possible, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said Wednesday.
In an address to the city executive committee, the mayor said Montreal police chief Philippe Pichet continues to enjoy his full confidence and support, as do the rank and file of the force.
Montreal police have asked the Sûreté du Québec to review certain cases by the municipal force’s internal affairs division in the wake of an investigative report in which two former high-ranking Montreal officers claim they were ousted after they were ready to report allegations of corruption on their force.
“Yesterday we all saw the program J.E.,” said Coderre referring the TVA network’s investigative news program. “The facts reported are troubling and extremely serious and I see that immediately afterward our police chief contacted the director of the Sûreté du Quebec and asked that an investigation be done on the issue … to see if there were any other pertinent details.”
“It’s quite troubling — meetings in hotels and so on — I hope all of this will be examined … (and) I fully support, we support, Mr. Pichet in this effort.
“I spoke to (Quebec Public Security minister) Martin Coiteux and clearly what’s important is ensure trust in our institutions. The fact we’re doing this investigation will allow us to preserve that trust.”
In the TVA report, two former Montreal officers say their department fabricated evidence in an effort to silence them.
Parti Québecois leader Jean-François Lisée and Coalition Action Quebec leader François Legault called Wednesday for the provincial government to send the Bureau des enquêtes independantes to investigate the allegations against Montreal police.
“The way to re-establish trust is not to have police investigating police,” Lisée said.
‘Vast majority do an unblemished job’
In Quebec City, Coiteux said the BEI would not investigate because it doesn’t have the training nor the mandate to do so.
Coderre said how the SQ conducts its investigation “is up to them.” But in the meantime, Pichet and the department’s personnel enjoy “all of my support.”
“We’ll do the work that has to be done,” he said. “But what’s important is that the vast majority, the men and women of the Montreal police department, do an unblemished job and act in a professional way.
“From the beginning (of his mandate as chief), you’ve seen Mr. Pichet act on the internal management (of the force). If there are things we should know, the investigation will let us know what happened. I think we’ll let the police do their job, let the SQ do their investigation and they’ll have our full co-operation if required.”
Pichet said Tuesday night he had asked the SQ to “review certain investigations” carried out by his department.
Also on Tuesday evening, Martin Coiteux took to Twitter to say the “facts raised (by the report) are serious and deserve concrete action.” The minister also wrote he was “reassured” by the fact the SQ would conduct an investigation.
Coiteux wrote he had spoken to Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and both agreed that “public trust in our institutions must be assured” and that light must be shed on the allegations.
Inspectors off the force since 2013
Former Montreal police inspectors Jimmy Cacchione and Giovanni Di Feo have been off the force since June 2013. Cacchione, who was assigned to security at Montreal-Trudeau airport, and Di Feo, who was responsible for community services, allege in the report they discovered a case of corruption within their force at the start of 2012.
Cacchione told the investigative program J.E. they were prepared to send a letter to the public security minister and the media “to expose cases of corruption” within the Montreal force.
The two former police officers maintain they have yet to see the evidence that resulted in their being thrown off the force. They were suspended without pay in June 2013 following a disciplinary investigation. Amicable agreements between the two and their former department were reached afterward.
According to the TVA report, both men, who describe themselves as “whistleblowers,” believe that after having examined certain documents, the Montreal police department’s internal affairs division fabricated evidence to silence them.
Report references BCIA security
The TVA report contends the Montreal police department suspected the pair had questionable acquaintances, including Luigi Coretti, who ran the BCIA security firm.
Coretti faced charges of fraud, uttering false documents and using fraudulent documents to produce false company returns, but the case against him was dropped last November because of unreasonable delays in getting to court.
Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Tony Tomassi pleaded guilty to charges of fraud against the government after having used a credit card provided by Coretti to buy gasoline, even though the MNA had a government travel allowance.
In Quebec City, Lisée described the revelations about the Montreal police internal affairs department “very troubling.”
“There are a certain number of allegations,” Lisée said. “But there are repeated troubling allegations in the SPVM.”
And he called on the Liberal government to call in the province’s independent police investigation unit to look into the allegations instead of the SQ.
Another observer who seemed unimpressed that the SQ had been called in to investigate the allegations raised by the TVA report is Quebecor CEO and former Parti Québécois leader Pierre Karl Péladeau, whose media empire includes TVA.
“The management of one police department investigates the management of another police department. … Is that the best way to proceed?” wrote Péladeau on Twitter Wednesday morning, including a link to the network’s report on Montreal’s turning to the SQ for an investigation.
Related
Philip Authier of the Montreal Gazette, and Presse Canadienne contributed to this report.
