The premier has offered to send Sûreté du Québec officers to Montreal, but was not specific about how they would help and acknowledged that the city’s police force has jurisdiction.
“I spoke with Mayor Valérie Plante earlier and I told her it is urgent that in the coming days we have more arrests of the thugs and the vandals who were violent Friday,” Legault said Tuesday, “and until we re-establish order in Montreal, I offered to send the Sûreté du Québec to Montreal.”
Legault was not specific about how SQ officers would help out in Montreal, and he acknowledged that the investigation into violent acts at Friday’s protest is under the jurisdiction of the Montreal police force.
When asked if he believes Montreal police have control of the situation, Legault said he does “until proven otherwise, but I expect for there to be some action in the coming days.”
“We only had three people who were arrested (on Friday),” Legault said. “If you saw the images, we saw there were a lot more than three who were violent, so we expect the SPVM will arrest many more people in the coming days, and that’s what I said to Valérie Plante.”
Reached for comment, Plante said she has confidence in the city’s police force.
“There has been collaboration between the SQ and the SPVM for a long time, and numerous SQ officers were on the ground Friday and Saturday acting in a support role,” Plante wrote in a statement sent by text message. “The SPVM has all the expertise and latitude to proceed with arrests and ensure the security of the city of Montreal.”
Police have been criticized on all fronts regarding recent protests.
Adam Scheier, the rabbi at the Shaar Hashomayim synagogue in Westmount, said he was asked to leave the area where he was standing while the protest rolled through.
“The policeman explained to me that he was fearful of a ‘fire starting between the two sides,’” he wrote on Facebook. “Apparently, my presence is deemed a sufficient provocation for removal, while their hateful chants are allowed to continue.”
Mount Royal MP Anthony Housefather denounced the incident as “absurd policing.”
“I am deeply concerned that policing in Montreal has turned from enforcing the law and making people feel safe to ensuring that we just don’t escalate situations,” he wrote in an email. “This is sending the wrong message.”
City hall opposition leader Aref Salem called on Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher to instruct his officers to enforce the law, saying it’s unacceptable to ask citizens who are respecting the law to leave an area for their safety.
Montreal police have not returned a request for comment about the incident involving Scheier.