The new structure of the UPAC in place by the summer

Archival Photo Simon Clark
The minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux, hopes in particular that the new assistant commissioners of the UPAC will be appointed by the summer.

Marc-André Gagnon

Monday, February 19, 2018 15:32

UPDATE
Monday, February 19, 2018 15:36

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The minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux, the hope is that the new structure of the Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC), as a body of independent police, to be put in place by the summer.

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Mr. Coiteux hopes in particular that the new assistant commissioners of UPAC, whose responsibilities are laid down in the law passed last week by the liberal majority, to be appointed by the summer.

The minister of public Safety is given the same goal in regards to the famous monitoring committee to keep a close eye on the administration of the UPAC, in addition to reporting to the national Assembly.

“I hope that we will be able to put it in place by next summer, said the minister Coiteux, during a press conference at the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Monday morning.

“So we will, as quickly as possible, initiate the process to this that we can have nominations that may be submitted by the prime minister or to the heads of the opposition, he continued, because the oversight committee, it will be designated to two-thirds of the national Assembly.”

Work climate

The minister reiterated his commitment to tackle now to the improvement of the working climate within the UPAC.

Recall that according to the Association of the provincial police of Quebec (APPQ), the work climate within the organization would be so “rotten” that more than half of the investigators on loan to the UPAC would prefer to return to the ranks of the Sûreté du Québec.

Mr. Coiteux stressed that work involving the department of public Safety, the commissioner of UPAC, Robert Lafreniere, as well as representatives of the Sûreté du Québec and the trade union of the provincial police has already been initiated.

“There is a meeting held not later than the last week in a very good climate, he reported. […] It is very clearly our intention, as a department of public Safety to support the parties for actions to be put forward.”

One of the issues includes loans to service, which will continue even if the UPAC is now a body of police as a whole. It is, for the moment, to find “the best system of lending service”, considers Mr. Coiteux.

“Eventually, the UPAC will be able to commit its own resources without recourse to loans service, including from the Sûreté du Québec, but that is more long term. […] In the meantime, there will still have loans to service,” said the minister.