MRC des Collines police understaffed, overworked, union says
The union representing police officers in the MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais says a personnel shortage is forcing members to work mandatory overtime, leading to what it describes as "a very difficult work climate."
Manuel Bandeira, president of the Fraternité des policiers et policières de la MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais, says about a dozen positions are currently vacant on the force, whose jurisdiction includes the western Quebec municipalities of Pontiac, La Pêche, Chelsea, Cantley, Val-des-Monts and L'Ange Gardien.
Bandeira said that's been extremely hard on the officers who are left to fill those gaps.
"We have a very difficult work climate and work relations at the moment," he said in French.
Jean-Mathieu Lafleur, the union's vice-president, told CBC burnout is high among young officers who have been working mandatory overtime. He said some officers have had to take sick leave to recuperate, which he called "abnormal for a small police service."
Lafleur said he fears if these issues are not addressed soon, the police force could fall into "survival mode."
"It's going to create more and more sick leaves, short-term leaves, long-term leaves, because people are just going to be exhausted," he said.
Recruitment a challenge
Lafleur said one reason for the personnel shortage is that the regional administration is failing to attract and retain new recruits.
"[A] short-term solution is to put a policy for attraction and retention that is competitive with Gatineau, with Ottawa police, with Sûreté du Québec. That would allow us to bring more people in," he said.
Another potential solution would be to place higher-ranking officers on a callback list, increasing the number of officers available to work overtime, he said.
Lafleur said the force has been experiencing these issues since the current collective agreement was signed in 2023. In addition to the staffing issue, Lafleur sited a lack of communication between the union and management, which is why the union requested a meeting with Marc Carrière, warden of MRC des Collines-de-l'Outaouais.
Carrière told Radio Canada he recently held a four-hour meeting with the union executive to discuss the challenges facing the police force, and to hear the union's proposed solutions.
He said the county is not unique in its struggle to recruit officers, adding he plans to establish a committee to tackle the problem.
"Everybody agrees that there are some issues and that we have to find solutions," Carrière said.
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Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
FACT FOCUS: A Craigslist ad is not proof of paid protesters in LA. It was posted as a prank
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2 days ago
She came to Canada for university, but she'd never been accepted. The scam cost her $7K
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IRCC says the verification process for acceptance letters requires that DLIs verify the authenticity of all letters. To date, the improved letter of acceptance verification system has intercepted more than 10,000 potentially fraudulent letters of acceptance, IRCC says. 'Nobody is doing anything' Both Fatim and Aminata have blocked the consultant's number and are being represented by the same lawyer in their attempt to find a solution for their cases and move forward. Aminata says when she was first informed about the scam, she told UQAC that the agent who falsified her acceptance was a student. UQAC confirmed to Radio-Canada that he was then expelled from his university program. Aminata applied to the university again, contacted the prime minister, the federal minister of immigration, provincial politicians, the anti-fraud service and local police. After that, there was a silence, she said. Saguenay police confirmed to Radio-Canada that they could not take on Aminata's file because the fraud happened overseas. In an emailed statement, it says the victim was referred to her embassy and local police force. They asked me to talk and I talked and nobody is doing anything, Aminata said. I still have that little bit of light … hope that things will change. Rachel Watts (new window) · CBC News
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
French authorities say a 15-year-old student fatally stabbed school employee
PARIS (AP) — A French middle school employee was stabbed to death by a 15-year-old student during a bag check Tuesday at their school east of Paris, the national gendarmerie service said. The student was detained. A police officer helping with the bag checks was slightly injured during the arrest, the gendarmerie service said. The attack at the Francoise Dolto School in Nogent was being investigated. 'While she was looking after our children in Nogent, an educational assistant lost her life, a victim of senseless violence,' French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X. 'The nation is in mourning and the government mobilized to bring crime down.' Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Such fatal attacks have been rare in France but concerns about school violence have been on the rise. The Education Ministry introduced bag checks this year at some schools to reduce it. Over a two-month period this spring, 186 knives were seized during school bag checks and 32 people detained, the interior minister's office said Tuesday. In April, a high school student stabbed four other students at his school in western France, killing one and wounding three others before being arrested, police said.
