Quebec provincial police Sgt. Maureen Breau is shown in an undated handout photo. A funeral will be held today for Sgt. Breau, a Quebec provincial police officer who was killed while on duty last month. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Surete du Quebec *MANDATORY CREDIT*
TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. – A funeral for a Quebec provincial police officer was underway Thursday afternoon following a solemn procession that featured thousands of officers and first responders from across North America.
Twenty-year veteran Sgt. Maureen Breau was fatally stabbed while serving an arrest warrant on March 27 in Louiseville, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal. Breau, 42, was a mother of two whose husband is also a provincial police officer.
On Thursday, uniformed provincial police officers marched under sunny skies alongside a black hearse carrying Breau through the streets of Trois-Rivières, Que. An officer walking behind the hearse carried a police hat on a cushion as the procession made its way toward the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap Catholic church.
As her casket, draped in the Quebec flag, was carried into the church by eight officers, others could be seen watching with tears steaming down their faces. Along with her husband and two children, three officers who were present the night she died accompanied the casket.
At the beginning of the ceremony, Breau’s partner Daniel, her children and other close family were invited to lay bouquets at the front of the church while a singer performed Lady Gaga’s “Always Remember Us This Way.”
Jacques Painchaud, the president of the union representing provincial police officers spoke first, describing Breau as someone who was spontaneous, authentic and full of energy.
With tears visible in his eyes, Painchaud said Breau was a devoted colleague who worked for the safety of the public. “Your loss is a tragedy without name,” he said.
Groups of residents lined the three-kilometre procession route to watch the estimated 4,000 police officers from across Canada and the eastern United States who took part on foot, in cars and on motorcycles.
Quebec provincial police Sgt. Marc Tessier said it’s important for police officers to come together to support one another.
“Every time something happens to a police officer, we’re reminded that we do a job that has risk, and it could happen to any one of us,” he said in an interview outside the church. He said that in addition to being a mother, Breau was a police officer who did a lot of work in her community.
“She was a person that was always smiling,” he said. “When you talked to her, instantly, you had a connection.”
“That’s why people are here – they’re touched by what happened, and it’s reminding us that we have to enjoy life and take care of yourself and your family,” Tessier said.
He said police appreciated the outpouring of support from the public, who left cards and flowers at the station where Breau worked and posted online messages of compassion. Tessier said Breau’s death was hard on her colleagues, who he said received psychological aid and other support from the provincial police service.
The man accused in her killing was shot dead by provincial police. Isaac Brouillard Lessard, 35, had been found not criminally responsible by the courts at least five times for past offences.
Breau is the first Quebec provincial police officer to die on duty since 2016.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2023.
