Provincial police have no plans to stop patrolling Algonquin reserve: minister

QUEBEC – Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux says provincial police have no plans to unilaterally stop patrolling an Algonquin reserve in the northwestern region of Quebec.

A chief from the Lac-Simon reserve told Radio-Canada today she’d been informed of a police withdrawal, not long after she’d said the community had lost confidence in the provincial force and didn’t want it there.

But Coiteux says the situation remains the same, with Lac-Simon’s own indigenous police force patrolling during the day and provincial police handling night duty.

Provincial police have been helping out the Lac-Simon force, which has been understaffed since the fatal shooting of one of its officers in February.

Then in April, local police were involved in the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old man on the reserve, further straining relations.

Coiteux says the plan is still to have a gradual withdrawal of provincial police, but that it won’t happen without a formal request and assurances that conditions have been met to ensure security in the area.

The 13-member indigenous police force patrols a community that has about 1,200 people and is roughly 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

Native Affairs Minister Geoffrey Kelley said Wednesday the plan has always been to return full-time policing duties to the Lac-Simon police.