MONTREAL -- Quebec’s municipal police federation is denouncing certain municipalities’ practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
When officers potentially come into contact with the virus, they’re being told to stay home as a preventative measure – but they aren’t being paid, the Fédération des policiers et policières municipaux du Québec (FPMQ) says.
In a press release sent on Monday, FPMQ asked the minister of public security to issue a directive forcing municipalities to pay their officers.
“These police officers are not sick, unfit or unable to carry out their work,” the release reads. “They are asked to isolate themselves preventively when they have to be tested because they have flu-like symptoms or have been exposed to a possible case of COVID-19.”
The release mentions police services in Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Gatineau, Mercier, Mirabel, Richelieu Saint-Laurent, Saint-Eustache and Thérèse de Blainville, where it says officers who put their “heart and soul” into their work and put their families at risk are being abandoned.
“It is inconceivable that they be asked to do their duty by exposing themselves to the virus and that they are abandoned when they show symptoms or have been in contact with an infected person,” said FPMQ president François Lemay.
Lemay said while Premier François Legault thanked police officers for working on the frontlines during the virus to make sure public security regulations are being met, he should intervene to make sure those who have to stay home are being paid.
"This practice is blatant disrespect for our members and sends an extremely negative message to the police who are on the front lines against coronavirus every day," Lemay said.
