MONTREAL - Police officers marched through the streets of Montreal Wednesday morning before staging a noisy demonstration in front of City Hall.
About half of the force's 4,500 officers rallied in front of the Police Brotherhood offices at 9:45 in the morning, donning red long-sleeved shirts and baseball caps bearing the slogan "underfinancing -- enough is enough."
The back of the shirts was emblazoned with "Parent peut s'il Tremblay veut," meaning new police chief Marc Parent could make changes to the force's funding if allowed to by Mayor Gerald Tremblay.
"we want a quick answer. We don't want a big analysis," said Brotherhood president Yves Francoeur.
After the mass assembly, the officers marched from St. Joseph Blvd. and Berri St., along St. Denis St., to City Hall in Old Montreal, where they staged a noisy rally, clapping inflatable sticks together.
Officers are denouncing $35-million budget cuts made by city council, which they say will likely result in the termination this year of 140 jobs within the force.
The group said the cuts have led to lengthy case backlogs caused by a lack of manpower, and want the city to restore funding for the 2011 fiscal year.
Public security councillor Claude Trudel said he didn't believe the cuts resulted in any lag in security
"Montreal is still one of the safest cities in North America, and I think we have a very good police service, with good policemen," said Trudel.
Trudel said city council would discuss the 2011 budget with Parent before it is tabled next month.
