MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais public security swore in two new police officers on Friday afternoon in Luskville, in what was a new kind of ceremony initiated by the chief of police.
Samuel Martineau-Charles from Chelsea and Mathias Morin from Maniwaki were officially sworn in after completing police training, which involves study at a CEGEP and then a stage at the École nationale de police du Québec.
“Today you are taking a decisive step. You are being sworn in not only before your peers, but before an entire community that is placing its trust, hope and safety in you,” said Collines police chief Paul Charbonneau before the two were sworn in.
Charbonneau started as MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais chief in September. He said ceremonies used to be held in his office with only a couple of other officers present, and he wanted to extend that invitation to family and the public at large.
“I decided that since the oath of office is to serve the public, it should be done in front of the public,” he said.
When Charbonneau was sworn into office in September 2025, he told Radio-Canada he wanted to prioritize recruitment due to a shortage of officers in the department. He noted the beautiful territory and low crime rate as selling points of the region, adding that officers have a chance to “manage a file from A to Z.”
He told THE EQUITY after the ceremony that these recruitment efforts are continuing as he is always trying to advertise his police force to recent graduates.
“I need to get known. I need to say, “Hi, we exist, come and work with us. We have a lot of fun, it’s a very nice territory and you can do a lot of nice police work here,’” he said, adding that with the addition of seven new police officers from January to June this year, the efforts are bearing fruit.
Charbonneau said the first such ceremony was in Cantley in October and the next will be in L’Ange-Gardien. He said he would like the tradition to continue, going around the different municipalities and allowing new officers to meet the communities they will serve.
