The Canada Military Police Control Agency will hold a public interest hearing after accusations that a civil employee was “affected and brutalized” by the conduct of the officers during an active exercise of shooters at the base of the Montreal Canadian forces last November.
TO Complaint alleges Three or four members of the Military Police indicated weapons to the employee. He alleges that an officer ordered him to lay down on the ground and dragged him through his overall and sweater, starting his clothes.
The employee, who was painting on the site, affirms that the event happened so fast that he believed that a serious incident was being developed and he was the main suspect. He had been informed of the exercise, but did not know his moment and was not a participant.
According to the complaint, the employee was arrested violently, searched and then ordered to leave the area. The employee affirms that he spent the rest of the exercise outside in frozen temperatures with only his damaged and sweater.
The Complaints of the Military Police (MPCC) said the complaint was filed on November 21, 2024 by a union representative on behalf of the employee.
The union also says that many civilian employees did not know about the exercise and believed they were witnessing a real attack.
The MPCC transferred the complaint to the Marshal of the Rector of the Canadian forces, who is responsible for dealing with the complaints of conduct.
At the end of January, the rector’s deputy marshal issued a decision that determined the conduct in the complaint, namely the training, is excluded from the definition of police duties and functions, according to the MPCC.
The deputy indicated in a letter that an investigation was launched under the Code of Professional Conduct of the Military Police, an internal process of the Military Police, and the plaintiff would remain confidential.
According to a MPCC press release sent on Wednesday morning, the plaintiff was “dissatisfied” with the handling of the complaint and requested that the guard dog carry out an independent review.
The president of the MPCC, Tammy Tremblay, wrote in his decision to celebrate a public hearing that there is a public interest “given the seriousness of the accusations regarding the treatment of the military police to the people arrested during arrest and detention.
“The employee claims to have experienced humiliation and abuse that caused significant trauma, whose effects continue to suffer today,” Tremblay wrote.
“The employee emphasizes that he never imagined that he would experience such a situation in a National Defense establishment and that the actions of the Military Police member reminded him of certain barbarian acts he experienced in Rwanda in 1994.”
Tremblay played the letter from the attached rector Marshall and wrote the alleged behavior “does not relate to the ‘training’.”
In his press release, the MPCC said the accusations raise serious concerns but have not been tested. The audience will be mainly virtual on a date that will be announced.
