Manitoba RCMP officer could be forced to resign after lying about failure to arrest wanted man

A Manitoba RCMP officer has admitted he violated the Mounties' code of conduct, and he could be forced to resign as he faces misconduct allegations for the third time in his short career.

The officer, Const. Vincent Quirion, was with the Swan River RCMP detachment in late 2021 when he lied about whether he had spoken to a man wanted on an active warrant, a conduct board heard Thursday at his discipline hearing.  

He claimed he had not spoken to the man, when in fact he had.

The lie resulted in Quirion being charged with two counts of misconduct — for failing to provide a timely accounting of his duties and failing to diligently perform his duties. 

He admitted to both counts on Thursday.

Quirion was transferred to the Portage la Prairie, Man., detachment soon after the 2021 incident, but he was suspended from the RCMP in 2022 as he awaited the hearing.

The RCMP's conduct boards look into the most serious cases of police misconduct — ones where dismissal is a possibility. They are formal, court-like processes, and the adjudicators have the legal authority to order disciplinary measures such as loss of pay or dismissal.

'Pattern of dishonesty'

During the hearing, it was revealed Quirion, who joined the RCMP in 2017, had faced internal discipline twice before.

He was caught driving while impaired in 2020. Months later, he was caught mining bitcoin using an RCMP computer. 

Both times Quirion lied to his superiors during the disciplinary process, said Janice Calzavara, the representative for the conduct authority — whose function in a conduct hearing is similar to a prosecutor in a criminal case.

Quirion "has shown a pattern of dishonesty and complete disregard for integrity," Calzavara said at the hearing.

The conduct board heard Thursday that he was called to a Swan River drug store in November 2021, after the man with an outstanding warrant had made a complaint that he was being harassed by three other men.

Quirion would later write in an official summary of the events that the wanted man "was gone on arrival." He closed the investigation.

Days later, a Yorkton RCMP officer called Quirion because he was investigating a crime related to people named in the incident. He wanted to know if Quirion had spoken to the wanted man. Quirion again said he hadn't.

But after hanging up the phone, Quirion went to his superior and admitted he had lied. 

He apologized to the board at the hearing, saying he thinks about what he did every day.

No risk to public from actions: lawyer

Quirion's lawyer, Melissa Beaumont, told the board that Quirion had a tough time in Swan River — a small town about 380 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

The COVID-19 pandemic had left him isolated from his friends and family in Montreal, Beaumont said. 

Quirion didn't arrest the wanted man because he was trying to turn him into a police source and build a rapport with him, she said.

"[There is] no evidence the safety of the public was at risk by not arresting [the man]," Beaumont said at the hearing. 

She said Quirion's transfer to the Portage la Prairie detachment has changed everything, and he is now "thriving." 

She produced several letters written by his fellow officers in Portage la Prairie that say he is a good worker. 

Calzavara didn't accept that he was remorseful, and asked the adjudicator to order Quirion to resign.

The claim that Quirion wanted to use the man as a source didn't add up, considering he had no history or training in building sources, she said.

She also said that Quirion only confessed after realizing the Yorkton officer would pull the video surveillance and catch him in his lie.

Quirion was docked vacation time and pay for his last two infractions, but Calzavara said the fact the "ink was still wet" from those measures when he committed another suggests he didn't learn.

"This lie had the potential to do serious damage to an RCMP investigation," she said.

Adjudicator Louise Morel told the board she will give her verbal decision next Wednesday.