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Ottawa police force offers to hold funeral for officer killed in northern Quebec

By: The Canadian Press

Thursday, Mar. 7, 2013 at 7:08 AM | Comments: 0

Const. Steve Dery is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Dery Family

A moment of silence was observed Monday in the House of Commons as funeral arrangements were being worked out for a police officer slain while answering a call in northern Quebec on the weekend.

Const. Steve Dery, who worked for the Kativik Regional Police Service, was shot and killed on Saturday night while responding to a domestic dispute in Kuujjuaq, a small community in northern Quebec about 1,500 kilometres from Montreal.

Dery was originally from the Ottawa area and Ottawa police have consulted the family of the 27-year-old officer about the possibility of holding a police funeral for him in the national capital.

An Ottawa police spokesman says Dery's family will decide on the kind of funeral service they want.

Helene Sauvageau, a spokeswoman for the family, has confirmed that Dery's employer is working with the Ottawa police on the details.

"The family accepted that the Kativik police force work with the Ottawa police to arrange the funeral," she said.

Sauvageau could not say when the service will be held.

Politicians paid tribute to Dery with a moment of silence in the House of Commons on Monday.

A second officer was wounded in the incident that claimed Dery but his life isn't in danger.

The Kativik Regional Police Force which Dery worked for was created in 1996 to serve communities in Nunavik, which comprises the northern third of Quebec. Kuujjuaq is the largest village in the region, with a population of about 2,400.

Charles Boulianne, President of the Nunavik Police Association, said he and all members of the group were "deeply affected" by the Dery`s death.

"His smile and good spirits will be forever remembered. He was a police officer in which all officers could model themselves after," Boulianne said. "When Steve Dery took his final First Air flight home, he took a piece of each officer with him; he will be in our hearts and memories forever."

Quebec provincial police say shots were fired at the two officers shortly after they arrived at the home of a man and a woman in Kuujjuaq. The woman managed to escape without injury.

Police found the suspect dead inside the home the following afternoon and believe he committed suicide.

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