Judge reduces suspension for two Montreal officers sanctioned for lying to watchdog

By Canadian Press on August 14, 2025.

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MONTREAL — A Quebec court judge has overturned the majority of the sanctions against two Montreal police officers who were suspended for lying about their interactions with an inmate who died in custody in 2017.

Judge Alexandre Henri ruled that police watchdog investigators had not informed the officers of their right to remain silent.

Quebec’s police ethics board had suspended the officers for 22 days, but Henri said the board wrongly refused to exclude material provided to watchdog investigators.

The judge invalidated all but two days of that sanction.

In 2023, the police ethics board found that officers Mathieu Paré and Dominic Gagné reported on an intake form that a 23-year-old man who had been arrested had no known medical conditions — when they had been told otherwise.

The board found the two officers then made false statements to investigators from the province’s police watchdog after David Tshiteya Kalubi died in custody the day after he was detained.

A coroner later concluded Tshiteya Kalubi’s death was not related to the medical condition.