Martin Prud’homme, an angry man who cries out injustice

Suspended while criminal charges weighed against him for which he was finally cleared, the director of the Sûreté du Québec, Martin Prud’homme, made a fiery exit concerning the possibility of the government sacking him.

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“I learn with dismay and with a deep feeling of injustice that the government has just mandated the Public Service Commission to report to it on my possible dismissal from the management of the Sûreté du Québec,” said by communicated the senior officer of the SQ.

In his letter, he recounts the course of events in order to explain:

“On March 6, 2019, I was suspended due to a phone call to Me Annick Murphy, Director of the Criminal and Penal Prosecutions Directorate (DPCP), dated October 23, 2017, more than 16 months after the event.

After more than a year of investigation, for a phone call, I was cleared of any criminal offense, without the investigators even meeting me when I offered my full cooperation.

The real intention behind this investigation was not the phone call, but rather to conduct a large fishing trip aimed at associating myself with the media leaks on the mere presumption that I had friendships with Guy Ouellet and family ties with the former UPAC Commissioner, Robert Lafrenière.

However, proof has been made that all the information in this regard has turned out to be inaccurate.

During the entire investigation, at no time was I informed of the real reasons for my suspension and I was never met to obtain my version of the facts, which goes against the principles of fundamental justice ”, denounces Martin Prud’homme.

“After being cleared of criminal allegations, the government decided to launch an administrative investigation into the phone call.

Voluntarily, I collaborated fully in the administrative investigation, ”he adds.

“I testified without even knowing the details of what I was accused of. I was not asked any questions. I was even refused permission to call witnesses.

The government is about to make a decision on the basis of erroneous, incomplete facts that involve a multitude of shortcuts. ”

“I have never had the right to defend myself adequately and I conclude today that I am the victim of the government’s desire to end a 32-year career in the service of the public”, supports the director of the SQ.

“I intend to defend my rights and my reputation before a fair and impartial body since I have lost all confidence in the capacity of the political sub-power which has already decided that my career is over.

In closing, I would like to address all the police officers in Quebec. I ask you to hold your head up high and continue to believe in the justice that you stand for every day. Of course, part of the system is sick, but citizens need your righteousness and your values, ”he concludes.

The Minister of Public Security Geneviève Guilbault will provide an update on this file this morning at a press conference.