Focus Montreal introduces Montrealers to people who are shaping our community, and brings their stories into focus.
It airs on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and midnight.
Take a look at who we’re meeting this week on Focus Montreal:
Meet SPVM deputy director Simonetta Barth
It has been a challenging year for the Montreal police service (SPVM).
In March, the deputy director Bernard Lamothe was relieved of his duties following allegations that the force’s internal affairs was accepting mafia bribes and fabricating evidence against whistleblowers.
The department is currently under investigation by the Sûreté du Québec and Quebec’s public security minister Martin Coiteux has also announced an administrative investigation headed up by former deputy minister of justice Michel Bouchard.
All this in the context of an ongoing labour dispute with the city that has seen police out of uniform for three years — until this week.
And playing out in public, the troubling allegations that police have been spying on journalists.
The SPVM is making it a priority to win back the public’s trust.
Part of that plan includes the introduction of a new second-in-command, Simonetta Barth.
The 28-year police veteran has been named deputy director, chief of operations for the force — the first woman to hold that position.
Barth joined senior anchor Jamie Orchard to discuss her new role.
‘The Taming of the Queue’
We’ve all done it. Waited in line.
A visit to the auto insurance board seven years ago led journalist and author Josh Freed to wonder why humans spend so much time lining up.
His quest for answers took him around the world.
Freed dropped by Focus Montreal earlier this week to talk about his latest documentary, The Taming of the Queue.
The documentary airs June 28 at 8 p.m. on the documentary Channel.
‘Explosion 67’
A new exhibit takes us back 50 years to Montreal’s Expo 67.
The Man and his World universal exhibition changed the world for so many who attended.
A new exhibit at the Centre d’histoire de Montreal–Explosion 67 — is going into the minds of those who were there, allowing members of the public to relive the history and awe of the Expo.
Catherine Charlebois from the history centre sat down with Orchard to talk about exhibit.
Explosion 67 — Terre des jeunes runs until September of 2018.