Former Montreal officer sues ethics commissioner over delay in Nicholas Gibbs case
Montreal police ethics lawsuit: ex-officer seeks $1.2M over delayed review He says the years-long wait harmed his mental health and career — see the case
A former Montreal police officer who was cleared in the 2018 killing of Nicholas Gibbs is suing Quebec's police ethics commissioner for about $1.2 million, arguing that a long delay in handling a complaint caused lasting psychological harm and hurt his career.
Philippe Bertrand says he suffered posttraumatic stress and other effects while waiting for a decision after the shooting, which led to an ethics complaint filed by antipolice brutality activist Alexandre Popovic. The commissioner rejected the complaint in 2023, years after the watchdog investigation had ended.
The case stems from the fatal police intervention in August 2018, when Bertrand shot Gibbs after officers responded to a street fight call. Quebec prosecutors later declined to lay charges, and the watchdog closed its investigation in 2021. The allegations in Bertrand's lawsuit, and in the separate lawsuit filed by Gibbs' family, have not been tested in court.