Eastern Door Volume 4 Number 16

SQ Fired Up Over $100 Dollar Towing Charge
PK's arrest SQ Lieutenant for DWI
By: E.J. Diabo

Surete du Quebec computer services were restored to Kahnawake Peacekeepers this past Wednesday afternoon following yet another rift between the two police forces.

The policing crisis occurred after Kahnawake Peacekeepers arrested a SQ officer following a high speed chase from Kahnawake to the highway 2-20 merge in Ville Lasalle at approximately 12:30am on Tuesday, May 16.

The 10 kilometer chase, which saw speeds in excess of 170 km/hour, began when Peacekeepers attempted to stop a 1993 Pontiac Grand Prix on highway 138 near Khanata Industries. Once Peacekeepers finally stopped the vehicle, and ran a check on the license plate and occupants driver's permit, they found that it was an unmarked police car registered to the SQ. The driver was identified as Lieutenant Jacques Vigneault of the Surete du Quebec.

Captured on tape by onboard video and audio recorders, Peacekeepers suspected that Lieut. Vigneault, who was off duty at the time, was intoxicated. Peacekeepers administered a roadside breathalyzer test which the suspect failed.

According to Peacekeeper Warren White, Vigneault was then taken to the SQ Candiac detachment for a second breathalyzer, but was transferred to MUC Station 14 in Montreal to avoid a conflict of interest. White says the results showed that Vigneault registered .19, more than twice the legal blood alcohol level.

After his second breath test while at station 14, Vigneault returned from a washroom and proceeded to wipe his wet hands on the uniform of Peacekeeper Walter Montour. The crown is being asked to look at possible charges of assault against the SQ officer for the incident in addition to the drunk driving and reckless driving charges.

The Pontiac was seized and brought to Kahnawake at which time the SQ were informed that a $100 dollar towing charge would have to be paid before the vehicle could be released. Corporal White of the PK's said that the vehicle was later handed over to Constable Charpentier of the SQ who paid the towing charge and was issued a receipt.

By telephone that afternoon, the SQ Aboriginal liason officer, Cpl. Claude Cheff, demanded that the $100 dollars be reimbursed to which the Peacekeepers refused. Cpl. Cheff responded by threatening to refuse police services, currently provided to the Peacekeepers, from SQ computers.

Mohawk Council Chief Billy Two Rivers said that the SQ did indeed refuse to honor a standard request for information from the Peacekeepers on the morning of Wednesday, May 17. In a response to a faxed request for information, the SQ detachment in Candiac stated that the PK's did not have proper clearance and were unauthorized to obtain such information. The same request was then made to the RCMP who share the SQ headquarters in Candiac. The RCMP also refuses and told the Peacekeepers they did not want to become a third party in the dispute.

Concerned that Kahnawake was being "Blackmailed" by the SQ, Two Rivers said that the MCK faxed a letter, Wednesday afternoon, to the office of the Quebec Public Security Minister, requesting a meeting with Serge Menard and SQ chief, Serge Barbeau.

That same day, SQ Public Relations Officer, Michel Brunet, stated that the Surete recognizes the arrest of Vigneault as legitimate and claimed that the refusal of access to information from SQ computers was due only to the actions of a few "rogue" officers at the Candiac detachment. However, Brunet also said that procedure called for the seized SQ vehicle to be returned to and SQ detachment at no charge.

Corporal White of the PK's said that according to the report prepared by officer Margaret McGowan, there was no request ever made by any of the SQ officers on the scene to have the car delivered to their station. Therefore, in compliance with Quebec Highway Code Article 636.2 and 592.0, the PK's were right in having it towed to Kahnawake.

Mohawk Council Chief, Phillip Jacobs, said that the MCK wants an administrative agreement from the Minister of Public Security and the Surete head, that no future unilateral actions will be taken on behalf of the SQ by a handful of disgruntled officers. The MCK also wants assurances that there will be no retaliation from SQ officers towards Kahnawake Peacekeepers "for doing their jobs", or to any community residents as a result of this situation.

In reply from the Public Security Minister's office Thursday afternoon, the MCK was told that Lieutenant Vigneault had been suspended. Andre Gariepy, Directeur du Cabinet Adjoint, said the officers responsible for services have been reprimanded and disciplined. Gariepy also gave a verbal promise that there would be no retaliation from SQ officers.

Chief Phillip Jacobs said "I would like to see that promise in writing, because who's to say what's going to happen".

Peacekeeper Chief, Joey Montour, looks at the whole incident as unfortunate, adding that the PK's and Surete have worked together successfully in the past. Montour hopes such cooperation will continue.

Constable Mathias Tellier, a spokesperson for the Surete, was reported as saying that the SQ is conducting an internal investigation into the whole affair.

While around 100 family and friends mourned the deaths of Danny Nelson and Kirk Lessard, the funeral held yesterday, caused controversy over land ownership, and was tipped to spark a crisis reminiscent of 1990.

Public Security Minister Serge Menard was outraged by Mohawks who cut down 15 trees on Monday, clearing burial plots for the two who drowned in a boating accident last week. He claimed that the intentions of the Kanestake residents burying the two men on Oka land was nothing more than a political maneuver to obtain land, and draw international media attention to the negativity's of the Quebec Government.

Kanesatake resident Marie David told The Easter Door that "Many people turned out to support the family", obviously putting aside political and land claims concerns for the day.

While Oka Mayor Jean Ouellet said the funeral was "...a disguised form of expropriation", the Surete du Quebec were for the first time at a Kanestake funeral, directing traffic.

David Cliche, a Parti Quebecois MNA and Premier Jacques Parizeau's point man on native affairs said that the Kanestake band council had been officially added by Quebec not to bury the bodies in the Pines. He stated that an offer of 60,000 square feet had been offered in writing to the council for an extension of the cemetery in another direction.

Kanesatake Grand Chief Jerry Peltier stressed that all the land belonged to Kanesatake, and that the band council and the federal government are negotiating on land-claims.

Eleventh hour negotiations between disgruntled caddies, Kanawaki Golf Club, Sny Horn and members of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, were fruitful as a settlement was reached to end a three day strike by Kanawaki caddies.

In an early afternoon meeting last Friday, May 12, that lasted close to ninety minutes, representatives from the four parties gathered in MCK boardroom to hear Kanawaki General Manager, Tim Rees put an offer on the table on behalf of the Kanawaki Board of Directors.

Brief and to the point, Rees offered to allow Sny's canteen to service the caddies, but only between the hours of 7 and 8 am.

Caddie representatives, who had been blocking a road on common land which gives access to Kahanwaki's practice range, said that they were unsatisfied with the offer.

Rees explained that under the lease signed with the town of Kahnawake, Kanawaki has a fundamental right to enjoy setting and enforcing rules and regulations on the property being leased.

Furthermore, since the club is considered private property and operates its own canteen called "The Ritz", they should not have to deal with direct competition within the area designate in their lease agreement.

Kathy Rice, of Brightsun Bakery in Kahnawake, made a surprise statement to the table about midway through the meeting on behalf of Kanawaki. Rice asked that she be allowed in the meeting to answer allegations that the food sold at "The Ritz" was unfit for consumption since her company supplies baked goods to the golf club.

While making her argument she asked if perhaps the caddies preferred service from Sny's canteen because the availability of beer.

After much persuasion to reach some sort of compromise from all the negotiators present at the meeting, which included seven Council Chiefs, Mr. Rees finally agreed that if the caddies pull out their road block, he would take one more suggestion back to his board of directors and promised an answer by the end of the business day.

At around 4:45 pm that afternoon Council Chief Johnny Montour informed the caddies, who had gathered outside the Council Office, that Kanawaki had agreed to allow Sny's canteen access to service them twice per day and would put it in writing, but the plan still needed to be ratified by the entire Board of Directors of Kanawaki since only two members could be reached that afternoon.

Council Chief, Johnny Montour, said that although negotiations were difficult he was glad to see an agreement could be reached diplomatically and in good faith on both sides.

As a result of the negotiations being carried out in good faith, both sides agreed to deal with other grievances in the Fall in order to have a good summer season. Kanawaki management is also considering a restructuring of their canteen prices and improving the quality of the food served.

To have confidence in a police force is a comforting and secure feeling. Unfortunately, Mohawks cannot feel this way about the Surete du Quebec (SQ).

The recent incident between the SQ and the Kahnawake Peacekeepers is not an isolated case but is representative of the kind of hostile relations that flare up from time to time. Since the inception of the Peacekeepers the SQ has resisted the establishment of a Mohawk police force. Disputes over jurisdiction, training, and accountability have been the source of conflict between the Quebec Government and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK). The SQ's behaviour in this latest incident reinforces the MCK's assertion that the Peacekeepers should not come under the command of the SQ. Two concerns from this latest incident illustrate the community's lack of trust of the SQ.

First, the threat of blackmail by SQ officers who threaten to be less cooperative by not giving the Peacekeepers access to police computers if a towing fee is not repaid to the SQ. Holding back pertinent information on possible violent criminals could endanger the lives of the Peacekeepers and, by extension, the community. This behaviour is inexcusable coming from a police force that is supposed to be dedicate to the protection of the public.

An SQ public relations officer state that the SQ will continue to give its full cooperation to the Peacekeepers and that the threat of non-cooperation is the action of a few 'rogue' officers. This is not reassuring. The SQ seems to be rife with 'rogue' officers if you take into consideration all the unprofessional actions during and since the 1990 crisis, such as the Ronald Cross case against the SQ in front of the Police Ethics Commission, the Inquiry into the death of Corporal Lemay and the recent court cases of the questionable 250 or so outstanding traffic fines from 1990 and 1991. The Quebec Government should tell us exactly what they are doing about the 'rogue' officers.

The RCMP are not innocent either. When the Peacekeepers asked if they would cooperate and give them access to their computer, they hesitated and asked that the Peacekeepers not put them in the middle of their dispute. That was a real 'cop-out' if there ever was one.

The second concern is the behavior of the SQ Lieutenant who was racing through Kahnawake at 170 km per hour in an unmarked police car. He tried to claim he was chasing a suspect, failed two breathalyzer test and, as an act of contempt, after returning from a bathroom, wiped his hands on the uniform of a Peacekeeper. This kind of behaviour by such a high ranking officer cannot be dismissed as the act of a 'rogue' officer. A Lieutenant is a leadership position. His job is to discipline the lower ranking officers and lead by example. What message is he giving the rest of the SQ force? The police are a close-knit brotherhood. Stories of how he treated the Peacekeeper must be spreading like wildfire through the police ranks. This kind of disrespectful behaviour only fuels a deeper rift between the SQ and the Peacekeepers and by extension the Mohawks in general.

The current Quebec Government must show that they are in charge and that they want good relations with the Mohawk People. The Government should make public how they will discipline these 'rogue' officers and, especially, the Lieutenant who appears to have disgraced his position.