Yes. Real life can be stranger than fiction – part 3.

I’d like to begin the third instalment of my ‘stranger than fiction’ exposé by stating it is not my place to impugn a motive on the police for what they did. I'm only concerned about the details of what they did and how it stacks up against the Code of Ethics of Quebec Police Officers, the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, the Criminal Code of Canada, and the Canada Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

But first, before I get to the heart of the matter, I want set the stage and provide some context.

The city of Laval, where this all went down, is basically a bedroom community for commuters who go to Montreal to work or study. I was one of the latter. In fact, that’s why I was inside the metro station in the first place – so I could catch a subway train to go to an evening class at my university downtown in the heart of Montreal.

In many respects Laval is an unusual city. It’s the 13th largest city in all of Canada and yet it has no downtown and no core area to speak of, just a patchwork of municipal districts in what was up until a few decades ago essentially rural land. Like a budding starlet suddenly making it big, the city of Laval has had considerable trouble trying to reconcile its humble beginnings with the trappings that come with larger influxes of revenue and increased prominence. The result has been less than stellar. For over two decades ethical management took a back seat to greed and ambition. As a consequence, Laval was rocked by a series of scandals that can be attributed in large part to a surplus of hubris and a lack of professionalism from individuals who have since been replaced thankfully with new leadership.

It wasn't until a few years after the escalator incident that I became aware of the undercurrent of municipal corruption that, in many respects, was the driving force behind what had happened to me. In 2013, it all came to a head when the mayor of Laval was charged with gangsterism1 and sentenced to time in prison for fraud, breach of trust and conspiracy to commit fraud2, his political party was disbanded3, the city itself was placed under trusteeship4 and the police chief retired5 under less than auspicious circumstances.

As you are about to learn, lack of foresight and poor judgment can have unintended consequences.

When the Globe and Mail newspaper first reported what had happened to me in the metro, the company spokesperson for the Société de Transport de Montréal (the transit authority that operates the subway system) was quoted as saying: "We were quite surprised to hear about this, we don't give fines for such things".6 She is quite correct. There is nothing in their list of STM by-law regulations that would give a transport inspector or peace officer assigned to patrolling the subway the power to detain and fine a commuter for not holding an escalator handrail.

The incident should have ended right then and there – throw out the tickets and apologize for the error. No lasting harm done.

But Laval was still under corrupt management at the time.

Instead of calling for an internal review to identify what went wrong to ensure that it doesn't happen again, the direction of the Laval police opted to double-down and engage the services of a public relations firm outside the scope of any police investigation or eventual court proceeding. Nobody outside the police would have known about this were it not for the fact that, amongst the redacted police documents obtained through a freedom of information request, one just happened to contain the e-mail signature file of the company in question, Cision Canada Inc.

Little did I know it at the time, but all-out war had been declared on me. For the media relations department, I was to become their public enemy No. 1.

It’s been said that in the fog of war truth becomes the first casualty. When the media relations officer showed up at the metro station to speak to the journalists on-site, I didn't anticipate the mendacities would be so barefaced. But then again, there was the not so subtle irony of her being under the command of a police chief festooned with epaulettes bestowing him a general's rank. Yes, war is hell and so was the absurdity of there being no peace envoy from team Laval (or team STM for that matter) to stop this juggernaut. For my part, all I wanted to do was speak truth to power and defend the principle of rule of law.

Fortunately for me, the standards of proof in a court of law are more rigorous than those in the court of public opinion. A seasoned judge cannot be fooled the way the masses can because when it comes to assessing the credibly of a person's testimony under oath, they know from experience how to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I'd like to share with you some of the more pertinent conclusions that were drawn in my case, many of which directly contradict what was told to the media:

1. I did not scream at the arresting officer or his partner;

2. I did not hurl insults at either officer;

3. I never addressed the police officers in French using the familiar singular forms "tu" or "toi" (very disrespectful);

4. the handrail pictogram was not posted by the STM (it came with the escalator when it was initially installed);

5. the STM has no claim of ownership to the escalator pictogram as it is the property of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers -- or ASME for short;

6. the colour yellow in the pictogram indicates caution and does not create an obligation;

7. the police are not responsible for your security on the escalator;

8. not holding the hand rail does not violate any STM by-law regulation, including section article 4e of regulation R-036;

9. I did not obstruct a peace officer in the execution of his duties.

Prior to firing off her salvo of lies, the attending police officer readily acknowledged that her police vehicle was parked illegally in front of the metro station. At the time she let it be known that she was going to give herself a parking violation ticket. This sort thing happens, and its no big deal. After all, police officers are human too. The true measure of an officer is how they conduct themselves after the fact. A police officers with integrity would of course apply the law accordingly and write themselves up a fine just as they would for anybody else.

A subsequent freedom of information request (Ref.: #493) revealed that the spokesperson for the Laval police had reneged on her word and did not give herself a ticket. The letter dated February 14th, 2012 and signed by the Associate Director of the Service de protection des citoyens de Laval, responsible for access to information, reads as follows: "...we regret to inform you that we cannot follow up because our Service does not have any documents which would enable us to answer your requests".

While it is conceivable she let herself off with a warning, possibly to keep the infraction out of her service record, this would definitely constitute an abuse of power. A police officer cannot feign ignorance of the law. There was no imminent danger or emergency that would warrant her parking her vehicle in contravention with the posted sign. She knew as much because her emergency lights were not on.

Unfortunately, her cavalier attitude towards both law enforcement and the application of proper police procedures is by no means an isolated incident. It has been endemic in the force for many years, and the consequences have been deadly as we will see in my next blog installment.

1. Les Perreaux and Ingrid Peritz, "Laval’s ex-mayor faces gangsterism charges." The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/lavals-ex-mayor-faces-gangsterism-charges/article11811064 (accessed May 12, 2018).

2. CBC News, '"King of Laval' Gilles Vaillancourt sentenced to 6 years in prison." The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/laval-gilles-vaillancourt-1.3898029 (accessed May 12, 2018).

3. Max Harrold. "RIP: PRO des Lavallois." The Montreal Gazette. http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Lavallois/7572548/story.html (accessed May 12, 2018).

4. Rhéal Séguin. "Laval placed under trusteeship over corruption allegations." The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/laval-placed-under-trusteeship-over-corruption-allegations/article12327151 (accessed May 12, 2018).

5. Andy Blatchford. "Scrutiny shifts to police in corruption-tainted Laval." The Canadian Press. http://www.macleans.ca/news/scrutiny-shifts-to-police-in-corruption-tainted-laval (accessed May 12, 2018).

6. Les Perreaux. "Woman cuffed for not holding escalator handrail." The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/woman-cuffed-for-not-holding-escalator-handrail/article4211386 (accessed May 12, 2018).