Photo caption : Carrefour-de-l’Hôpital district councillor and president of the commission de la sécurité publique Olive Kamanyana moderates a round table discussion on issues in the Black community on February 6.
Photo credit: Taylor Clark
Questions from a round table of conversation and citizen consultation that were focused on issues in the Black community will help inform the upcoming work plan for the Commission de la sécurité publique.
“Living in our city, it just takes feeling good. You can’t go to work if you don’t feel safe … We cannot separate public safety and economic development and social development and really well-being,” said Carrefour-de-l’Hôpital district councillor and president of the Commission de la sécurité publique Olive Kamanyana, who also acted as moderator.
The discussion was hosted by the Conseil de la Communauté noire de Gatineau and Mois de l’histoire des Noirs à Gatineau at the Maison du Citoyen on February 6.
“Why Black History Month? It’s very simple because it’s a moment when we can think about consulting members of the Black communities, and also members of society who come to hear what members of the Black communities are experiencing,” said Kamanyana.
She was joined by director of the Service de police de la Ville de Gatineau Simon Fournier, Aylmer district councillor and president of the municipal council Steven Boivin, and Lac-Beauchamp district councillor and commission de la sécurité publique member Denis Girouard.
“Often, the problems we have come down to perception. Sometimes it’s the truth. So, how can we resolve real issues and how can we resolve perception issues to build trust?” said Kamanyana. “How can we manage to feel at home? Because this is our place to help build this city.”
Trust was a common theme in the Service de police de la Ville de Gatineau’s strategic plan for the next four years.
In the message from the director, Fournier highlighted a new chapter where efforts will be mobilized around a victim-centred approach, community policing approach, staffing, and intelligence-led policing. Founding the base of this new vision was humanity, proactivity, and trust.
“Ultimately, our vision was born from this ambition to always remain an exemplary police service that inspired trust, the source of our legitimacy to act and an important factor in maintaining a feeling of security,” wrote Fournier.
In a press briefing on January 30, Kamanyana told reporters she was encouraged by the strategic plan and that the commission would assist in its implementation. “We will ensure that what is proposed in the plan is done on the ground.”
She went on to compare Gatineau to the policing situation in cities like Montreal or the ones around its metropolitan area. “In Gatineau, we are notgoing to have all this very tense relationship with cultural communities, all these very tense relationships with Black communities, but we can improve.”
One area that needs improving is racial profiling. In 2021, the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse won a racial profiling case involving two Gatineau police officers at the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. The decision was later challenged by the city but was refused by the Quebec Court of Appeal.
While Gatineau trailed behind Montreal, Laval, and the Sûeté du Québec for notices received by the Commissaire à la déontologie policière from 2020 to 2021, it was still one of the leading police services with notices indicating a breach in the code of ethics.
“Our police service must adapt. Our police force must understand today’s reality,” said Fournier. “I see that there is something positive about the future. It will not be perfect, it will not be a rainbow, but I think that it is by working, by discussing, by opening the discussion, by having a partnership with other authorities, by being transparent, that you will understand, see all the aspects and all the work that we do as an organization for you.”