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Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Pandemic investigation wraps up in Kanesatake
Following the conclusion of a years-long police investigation into allegations of financial misconduct against the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), which led Kanesatake's COVID-19 response, authorities are now deciding whether criminal charges will be filed. The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) is the office tasked with making these determinations in Quebec. 'They will review the file and see if there is any basis for prosecution,' said Marc Tessier, spokesperson for the SQ. It could take several weeks before this process is completed, he added. There is no further information that can be publicly disclosed at this time, according to DPCP spokesperson Lucas Bastien. 'We now have all the information required to identify a potential criminal case,' he said, inviting The Eastern Door to follow up in the coming months. The politically charged investigation, conducted by the SQ financial crimes division, is being handed to the DPCP as the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) prepares to hold elections on August 2, nearly four years after the file was first opened on August 23, 2021. The inquiry has hung over this Council term, with Victor Bonspille, who continues to claim the title of grand chief following his recent ouster by the MCK Ethics Commission, has often invoked the investigation at public meetings. 'Individuals in certain positions took advantage of our community at a crucial time and they took advantage of the situation with millions of dollars being handed to our community for the pandemic, to take care of us, and they pocket a large percentage of that. I think they undermined the community,' Bonspille told The Eastern Door following a forensic audit of the ERU in 2022, the contents of which incensed community members. That summary revealed compensation that many found lavish, with members that were paid an ERU base rate plus top-offs simultaneously with MCK or Kanesatake Health Center (KHC) wages. It also highlighted accounting pecularities in the 16-month span it covered, during which the ERU was responsible for managing $3.9 million. One member, incident commander and former vice-chief Patricia Meilleur, was paid nearly $600,000 in total over that time period. Former MCK grand chief Serge Otsi Simon, who was leading Council at the time of the ERU's work and is now a Council chief, has consistently defended the ERU, even signing his name to an open letter from members of the ad hoc body responding to the allegations outlined in the audit summary shortly after its release. 'After working with these guys throughout COVID and watching what they were going through, what they were working, how hard they worked, it's hard for me to believe anyone in there would have had criminal intent,' said Simon. He argued the ERU was effective in keeping COVID-19 rates low during the peak of the pandemic and that this is too often overlooked. 'People won't remember that. They won't remember the good that was done, and this is what disheartens me a lot,' he said. 'It's one thing to condemn somebody for ethical behaviour but to say it was criminal when the federal government knew about the funding, they approved the proposals, and yet there was something criminal of some sort? I really doubt it.' Bonspille alerted the community last Friday that he had been informed by the unit tasked with the investigation that a report had been handed to the DPCP. Simon confirmed that the Council was also given a heads up. Despite police revealing little about the progress of the investigation over the years since it was launched, it has occasionally made headlines, such as in May 2023 when police raided the band office and the KHC in search of records. While police would not confirm details of the investigation, KHC executive director Teiawenhniseráhte Tomlinson said at the time that the search warrant presented to the health centre specified that the SQ was investigating the possibility of fraud and breach of trust under the Criminal Code. Marie-Claude Bernard, the former finance head of the ERU, was recently reinstated as an employee of the MCK finance department after a labour tribunal ruling in her favour following a wrongful dismissal complaint. marcus@ Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Irish Times
23-04-2025
- Irish Times
Garda whistleblower to sue force over arrest by armed officers during football match
A former garda who was arrested by the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) as he took part in a football match with friends is to sue the force. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is taking a case against Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on a number of grounds, including the circumstances of his arrest. The case also claims breaches of the Protected Disclosures Act relating to whistleblower claims the man made about allegedly defective gun holsters acquired by An Garda Síochána . It is the ex-garda's case that he was penalised for acting as a whistleblower in relation to the holsters, which he said posed a serious safety risk to users. READ MORE The matter has been the subject of several protected disclosures and has been raised in the Dáil on multiple occasions. It has also been referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission , which is now known as Fiosrú. The whistleblower is facing trial in the Circuit Criminal Court on a number of serious charges relating to alleged weapons offences. He denies all charges. In 2020, following an investigation into these matters, heavily armed officers from the ERU, a specialised garda unit used in high-risk operations, launched an operation to arrest the man, who was still serving as a garda at the time. ERU officers moved in and detained the man as he was taking part in a football match in a Dublin park with friends. It is understood the man initially thought it was a prank and that he knew some of the officers taking part in the operation. Sources said ERU officers were directed to arrest him in public instead of at his home to avoid any risk of a siege. The man will claim in the High Court that he was the subject of a wrongful arrest and that the manner of the detention was a gross overreaction. The case was lodged in the High Court on April 11th. He is being represented by Belfast-based solicitor Kevin Winters. He will also allege he is being punished for acting as a whistleblower regarding the holsters. He first raised concerns about the leather holsters, which were manufactured by an Irish saddlery company, in 2019. During a recent Dáil debate, Labour TD Alan Kelly held up one of the leather holsters, which have since been removed from Garda service. He said the Garda National Technical Bureau had found the holster to be 'dangerously defective' and that it was capable of engaging the gun's trigger, causing it to fire. The technical examination was carried out in 2020 after a garda assigned to protection duty at the Israeli embassy suffered serious injuries when his weapon accidentally discharged. That garda has also sued the force in relation to the incident. The same type of holster was being used by Garda Colm Horkan one week later when he was shot dead with his own weapon while on patrol in Castlerea, Co Roscommon. Stephen Silver shot Garda Horkan 11 times after removing the handgun from its holster during a struggle. In 2023, he was jailed for life. Earlier this month, Mr Kelly asked Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan why Garda Horkan's holster was not forensically examined by ballistics experts after the incident, despite being bagged and taken away as evidence. He said there is no doubt Silver is responsible for Garda Horkan's murder, but that 'the question must be asked whether the defective holster should have been investigated for that incident as well'. In 2023, Mr Harris announced the force had acquired a new type of holster which makes it more difficult for gardaí to be disarmed by suspects.
