Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux reiterated his confidence in Montreal police chief Philippe Pichet on Sunday and expressed satisfaction with the SPVM's plans to reinstill public confidence in the force.

On Friday, Pichet gave Coiteux an action plan on winning back the public's confidence after a series of allegations of misdeeds, including the fabrication of evidence. 

Coiteux described the plan as extremely serious and said Pichet is "a man who is determined" to reestablish communication and transparency with the public. 

On Wednesday, the Public Security Commission will meet to discuss the report and on Friday, a meeting will be held in which the plan will be explained to the public. 

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said the report was a good first step and also said he maintains full support for Pichet.

"Pichet showed that he's listening, that he wants to surround himself with the best, that he's for real," he said. "It's not only a matter of a management and structure but also a matter of follow-up."

Coiteux warned that "cultural and organizational change" in the SPVM will not happen overnight but again repeated his confidence in Pichet and said the force's union would also have a role to play. 

According to Coderre, that change must come from the top of the force.

"It's not just a matter of bringing back some confidence with the people, but it's also from the inside, to be proud to be part of the SPVM," he said. "For a lot of the people, it's not a job, it's a mission."

Projet Montreal city councilor Alex Norris said he and his colleagues had yet to see the action plan but expressed tentative support at the prospect of public hearings. Still, he said those types of transparent measures are all too rare in Montreal which has resulted in systemic problems within the police force. 

"In the past, Mayor Coderre has defended the culture of secrecy at the top of the SPVM, of the fact that unlike Vancouver and Toronto, we don't have regular public hearings of our Public Security Commission, where there could be a dialogue between the public and police brass," he said. "Because we don't have that culture here in Montreal of public accountability, we have a lot of problems in our police force."

Norris said most officers of the SPVM do a good job of protecting the public but "the culture of the SPVM is clearly unhealthy and we need to change that."

While the SPVM's report deals with how to regain public confidence, two other investigations are still underway. An administrative inquiry led by former deputy justice minister Michel Bouchard is examining the practices of the SPVM's internal affairs division while the Surete du Quebec is conducting a criminal investigation into the allegations of fabricated evidence.