The Plante administration admitted on Tuesday that there was “a breach of trust” with some employees over the city’s handling of internal racism allegations, but it hopes to rebuild bridges by opening a counter unique.
Montreal plans to launch a new support service for racialized employees who wish to denounce behavior within their work team by the summer.
“We heard the cry from the heart of the victims and their impatience in the face of the complexity of certain processes and their delays,” said Dominique Ollivier, president of the executive committee of Valérie Plante, on Tuesday. “We understand and share their desire for justice. »
She described the current system — where complaints can go through union grievances, the Montreal Public Service Commission, human resources or the Comptroller General, among others — as an “uphill battle.”
The new one-stop shop will provide a single entry point for potential complainants. Before it is set up, an external committee must verify that this measure is adequate.
Ms. Ollivier was speaking as part of the work of a Montreal City Council committee, which was looking at the City’s 2022 diversity record.
For four hours, the elected official and many officials explained that the human resources department had created a new department dedicated to diversity issues within it and that awareness work was continuing.
In a press briefing afterwards, Ms. Ollivier acknowledged that there was a gap between the planning of official policies in the offices of senior officials and the working climate in garages, carports and other workplaces in the city.
A few minutes earlier, Gino Luberisse, union representative in Montreal North, had also denounced “a form of contempt” in the optimistic speeches of executives before elected municipal officials. “We have to deal with our emotions, because the rhetoric does not correspond to reality,” he lamented. When we reported, the employer sent us disciplinary notices. […] The reconciliation is not yet made. »
The official opposition to the municipal council, for its part, continues to demand an independent investigation into racism within the municipal apparatus. “Listening to the proceedings, I am even more convinced that the complaint process must be reviewed by external investigators,” said elected official Abdelhaq Sari.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) announced on Tuesday that it would more widely open an accelerated passage to the police profession formerly reserved for members of visible minorities. The organization will accept to hire candidates who have not studied three years in police techniques, but who hold another postsecondary diploma and have completed an Attestation of Collegial Studies (AEC) in police techniques for a period of one year. All must then go through the National Police School of Nicolet. “We want to open up to people who have a more social trajectory. The police are changing, it is no longer about the security mandate,” SPVM director Fady Dagher said on Tuesday on the sidelines of a press conference. The police department is looking for applicants with specific credentials, including social work, criminology, crime intervention, and psychology. Mr. Dagher was also pleased to have obtained funding to quadruple the number of places available in the AEC, increasing to 131 for next year. The SPVM is struggling with a major shortage of police officers that it is trying to solve.
