A Québec police constable who publicly refused to enforce the province’s COVID-19 curfew has been barred from policing for a year.
Blacklock's Reporter says the Police Ethics Tribunal ruled that Const. Maxime Ouimet’s social media posts undermined public trust and encouraged civil disobedience.
“Whether there were real consequences or not resulting from the Facebook posts, the fact remains it encouraged people to distrust the government and could even have led to civil disobedience,” wrote Adjudicator Isabelle Coté.
“The constable did not act on a whim. He had time to think about it and posted his message more than once.”
Ouimet, a veteran officer, resigned from his job and did not attend the hearings. The tribunal banned him from applying for any peace officer position in Québec for a year, citing violations of the police Code Of Ethics.
Evidence showed that from the beginning of the pandemic, Ouimet posted Facebook messages criticizing the government’s health measures. He questioned the necessity of lockdowns and mandates and publicly declared he would not enforce Québec’s curfew.
“Constable Ouimet stated he had been a police officer for 12 years and would refuse to ticket or execute any warrant against citizens who contravened health regulations,” wrote Coté.
“According to Ouimet, this went against his personal values and that he wanted to help and support these people, not ‘destroy’ them.”
“He did not intend to perform his duties since he disagreed with government health mandates. He said he would not enforce the law though it was his duty.”
The tribunal emphasized that all police officers are required to enforce the law. “The main objective of the Code is to ensure better protection of citizens by developing high standards of service to the public.”
Québec had some of the strictest lockdown measures in Canada, including the only province-wide curfew, with violators facing fines of up to $6,000. In 2022,
Premier François Legault proposed a medicare surcharge on unvaccinated residents, though he later abandoned the plan, as the Canada Health Act forbids discrimination in medical services.
Despite its strict measures, Québec recorded the highest COVID-19 death rate of any province, at 232 deaths per 100,000 population, followed by Manitoba (177 per 100,000), Saskatchewan (171), Alberta (141), British Columbia (134), New Brunswick (128), Ontario (121), Nova Scotia (105), Newfoundland and Labrador (80), and Prince Edward Island (74).
The Public Health Agency reported a total of 60,871 COVID-19-related deaths in Canada.
