By Ruby Pratka

Local Journalism Initiative

Sûreté du Québec plans to assign three fewer patrol agents to the MRC Brome-Missisquoi aren’t sitting well with local elected officials.

Prefect Patrick Melchior said he first learned of plans for a “reshuffle” in December 2022, and has been in discussions with public safety minister François Bonnardel for more than a year, hoping the provincial government would reconsider.

“We received this announcement with incredulity, considering that the region’s population of [permanent residents], seasonal residents and tourists has grown significantly in the past few years,” said Melchior at a press conference in Cowansville on Feb. 19.

“The last time we had a needs assessment done was in 2007, when we had 10,000 fewer residents, fewer tourists and seasonal residents and 1,000 fewer crimes than today, and yet the study found that we needed 65 officers, including 53 patrol agents, which was what we had until last year,” he said. He argued that the region is seeing “a lot of problems that we didn’t have before” as a result of the housing crisis and economic downturn, including people experiencing homelessness and mental health crises.

“We were told that [the new plan] was based on statistics from 2010 to 2021, but even between 2020 and 2024, the situation has changed,” he said. Melchior added he sent a letter to Public Safety Minister François Bonnardel asking him to take into account more recent data.

The SQ plans to add two investigators (enquêteurs) to make up for the loss of the three patrol agents (patrouilleurs), but Melchior said he doesn’t believe that’s sufficient. “Police coverage is already insufficient because our territory is too big. Two or three years ago, we asked for more people, and now they’re taking them away,” he said. “Patrol agents are often the ones who work on crime prevention, helping people who need mental health or psychosocial support, cybercrime, all the things we need addressed.” He pointed out that the MRC pays $10.4 million to the SQ for its services, regardless of the number of officers assigned, equating to 71 per cent of the total cost of the service. “I feel like we’re putting a price on public safety – how much is our safety worth?”

Melchior said he feared that fewer patrol agents on the beat might lead to longer response times.

No one from the Ministry of Public Safety was available to comment at press time. SQ spokesperson Jean Ruel told the BCN that the SQ planned to “analyze the mayors’ declaration” before making a further statement.