PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CÉGEP DE L'ABITIBI-TÉMISCAMINGUE
Training in police technology adapted to the realities of indigenous communities and the regions of Quebec offered at the Cégep de Baie-Comeau as of autumn 2021!

The Cégep de Baie-Comeau is pleased to announce that it has received provisional authorization from the Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur (Quebec Ministry of Education and Higher Education) to offer the Police Technology program as of the beginning of the Autumn 2021 semester thanks to a partnership with the Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue. This authorization will allow us to carry out this project that will give a unique characteristic to the program through training of students in innovative practice adapted to the realities of indigenous communities and Quebec regions.

In practical terms, this provisional authorization will permit the Cégep de Baie-Comeau to train three cohorts of 20 students each. To do so, the government increased the contingent of the Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue, the institution that already offers the training, by 20 places for the start of the Autumn 2021 semester. This contingent will be relocated to the Cégep de Baie-Comeau at that time.

"This is a great day for the Cégep de Baie-Comeau and the North Shore because we can now contribute to the training of police officers to fill labour needs on our territory, where we find nine RCM police stations under Sûreté du Québec jurisdiction and nine indigenous communities of which five have their own police forces," expressed Claude Montigny, Director General of the Cégep de Baie-Comeau.

"Our establishment already offers the training in Police Technology in addition to the Attestation of College Studies (ACS) in First Nations Police Technology, so it is a pleasure to share our knowledge and expertise with the Cégep de Baie-Comeau, which is located in a region that has many sociodemographic characteristics very similar to ours because of the presence of indigenous communities and, of course, the nature of the territory," affirmed Sylvain Blais, Director General of the Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

First Nations realities

Following the numerous recommendations of the Viens Commission and aware of the will of the Quebec government to follow up quickly on reports published concerning the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Policing in Indigenous Communities, both CEGEPS proposed an update of the training to the Quebec Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

'What excellent news for aspiring police officers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to have the opportunity to attend training adapted to the needs of the region's population. Furthermore, we would like to highlight the fact that this initiative is in the spirit of the calls to action and calls for justice of the Viens Commission and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. I am especially thinking of Innu youth who wish to contribute to the safety and well-being of their communities who can now do this without leaving their region or their family," affirmed Sylvie D'Amours, Ministre responsable des Affaires autochtones.

Adapted program 

"Stakeholders first planned that the Cégep de Baie-Comeau will offer the adapted program. Then, according to results, our college will also see to the adaptation of its training in this way," specified Sylvain Blais.

It was becoming more than urgent for both organizations to offer adapted training in which they heighten awareness, on one hand, of non-native police workforces to the particular nature of intervention with these populations in both urban environments as well as in different territories and, on the other hand, to propose training to indigenous persons who aspire to a police career in training environments favourable to their recruitment.

For both the Cégep de Baie-Comeau and that of l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue, it is imperative to educate about the history of First Nations peoples and the relationships that they have with the justice system since methods of intervention with these communities differ and have very distinctive characteristics. The police stations located in these various communities will surely be among the number of internship environments for students.

Regional issues

Intervention on huge territories in either isolated or forest environments also requires a particular and different approach as compared to that of traditional training of police officers, which is centred on intervention in urban and semi-urban environments with regard to transportation, logistics, communications, equipment and preparation for such situations. "Through the expertise developed by training forest technicians, wildlife enforcement officers and technicians in game (hunting) and halieutic management (fishing), the Cégep de Baie-Comeau is particularly well suited to offer a training program in Police Technology adapted to the geographical and geopolitical reality of regions, an expertise that we will happily share with our partner, the Cégep de l'Abitibi-Témiscamingue," concluded Claude Montigny.